Scrapped
by throwaawy
Summary: All Number Zero-Seven wanted was to find what she was missing. Prequel-fic, AU.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer – **_**Sekirei** belongs to Sakurako _Gokurakuin__. I make no profit from this whatsover._

_(a/n) – so i had a bit of a plot bunny that got stuck in my head and threw out my other plot bunnies. i did cherry pick a few things from the sekirei wiki since i havent fully read the manga so there miiight be a few things that dont quite square with canon._

__okay, there are prolly are a lot of things.__

__alright i made up a bunch of it.  
><em>_

_anyhow, this probably wont stretch out for very long, definitely fewer than 10 chapters, but i hope you enjoy it  
><em>

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><p>Bright.<p>

I opened my eyes to a brilliance that made me immediately blink in pain as I saw light for the first time in my life. There was a darkness at the edges of my vision and I turned my head to see a raised wall just centimeters from my face. I turned the other way to find a matching wall positioned identically. Looking down along my body I saw I was covered with a soft, white material, with yet another wall past my feet.

There was an odd whirring sound and I looked towards the ceiling once more to see a line appear above me, running from somewhere above my head to past my toes. The line grew wider and the lights appeared to brighten even further as the two halves of glass slid smoothly to either side and disappeared into the tops of the walls flanking me. Curiosity filled me and I cautiously raised an arm up to grasp at the wall, then lifted my other hand to do the same. It was a slightly odd feeling as I tensed the muscles in my arms and torso, but I slowly pulled myself up and levered myself into a sitting position.

As I glanced around to take in this new environment I found myself in, I noticed three identical enclosures around the room; there was one to my left and two to my right, arranged in a semi-circle with one end facing the same spot on the floor. Three other equally disoriented beings were lifting themselves free and I turned my focus towards them.

They felt familiar, as I recognized something about them that was like myself, but at the same time they were also missing _something._ I couldn't quantify just what they were lacking, but its absence seemed to open up a gaping void in myself I hadn't realized was missing. There were muffled sounds and chokes from the others as if they too had suddenly realized the absence of that _something,_ but I was able to control myself and remain quiet.

We sat there, for what could have been seconds or minutes, simply staring at each other in turn and wondering what was going on. The far door slid open with a hiss and heads focused on a petite figure walking through the entryway and coming to a stop at the precise spot on the floor that suggested the focus of our circle.

"Good morning!" the newcomer said brightly. "I understand you're all probably feeling just a bit confused and disoriented, but if you can even understand what I'm saying, then that means I did my job correctly!"

A small hand emerged from her dark sleeves to adjust the glasses resting over her eyes, absently brushing a stray lock of red hair from her face. "I suppose introductions are in order. If you look to the sides of your pods you'll find they have numbers on them, that indicates the order that we started your maturation process. Once you feel up to it, you can choose names for yourselves, but until then get used to calling each other by those numbers."

I couldn't see the outsides of my own pod, but looking around I noticed the small, temporary markings to the ones on either side of me. The grey-haired figure to my left had a large '06' stenciled into place, the dark-haired figure to my right – the one with the large strand of hair poking up from her head – had a '08' on hers. The pattern fell into place automatically, though I couldn't recall where I had gained this knowledge from.

I was Number Zero-Seven.

The redhead flicked the sleeves of her black and grey outfit once again to draw our attention and grinned. "I'm Number Zero-Two, but you can call me 'Matsu'. Pleased to meet'cha!"

**ooo**

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><p>...<strong><br>**

**Scrapped**

...**  
><strong>

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><p><strong>ooo<strong>

Once we had gotten used to moving around on our legs, Zero-Two led us through the door and down a hallway. Our destination was a large room, with several rows of chairs placed opposite a long table. There were several beings seated behind the table; at first glance they appeared to be similar to us, but they lacked some sort of quality which I had identified with the other three individuals I had woken up with. I scanned the group with a more critical eye, but I was still unable to find that _something_ which would fill the gaping void in my chest.

I did sense several other familiar presences scattered around the perimeter of the room. As Zero-Two led us to our seats, I glanced around and noticed four other figures in the same black and grey uniforms she was wearing. One of them noticed my attention and raised a hand from the sword at her side to smile and wave a hand at me. Something in that smile unnerved me, so I turned back towards looking at the non-similar beings we were seated in front of.

The center one rose as we took our seats, spreading his hands wide as his glasses glittered in the spotlight. "Welcome!" he cried. "I can't tell you just how excited I am to see you all moving around!" His spiky black hair, with the roots fading into a dark grey, bobbed in place as he gestured animatedly. "I'm sure you have many questions and I hope we can make things more clear for you. My name is Hiroto Minaka, you may refer to me as 'Minaka-sama'!"

A petite woman seated beside him coughed into her hand.

He pretended to ignore her. "You're currently located on 'Earth', in the country of 'Japan', on our own personal island 'Kamikura'. You four, plus the other five gathered in this room today are the first of what we call 'Sekirei'! You should be able to understand myself and the others thanks to the efforts of Number Zero-Two, who assures me she was able to upload the proper language packages into your heads while you were in your maturation chambers." He glanced briefly at the redhead standing behind us, who nodded in turn. "I hope you help teach us as much you can about yourselves so we can continue maturing your remaining brethren as soon as possible!"

He sat down after that and the man next to him rose to his feet. "My name is Takehito Asama," he introduced himself. "I'll be working with you closely on what we are currently calling the 'the S-Plan'. As you may have noticed, we are not Sekirei like you, but rather the indigenous race native to this planet, called 'humans'." He smiled kindly at us, and I felt unexpectedly soothed by the gesture. "You may have noticed a, ah, a _feeling_ that you are missing something. Unfortunately, from discussions and tests using your fellows—" he waved a hand to indicate the other five standing in the room with us, "we understand that is a common problem for you all. Rest assured we are doing our best to discover what it is you seem to be lacking and will remedy this situation as soon as possible."

Takehito fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment. "Another thing to note is you may find you possess a certain affinity to manipulate things around you. Whether it is the air or moisture around us, or tangible objects. That's part of what makes you Sekirei special. However, as you learn to control your powers, please try to use them responsibly. If you try to injure one of our researchers or damage our surroundings, we will be forced to _Discipline _you. We are also working on ways to help you control your powers, so please cooperate with our teams in any experiments they may ask of you.

"Are there any questions?"

There was a moment of silence and then a woman at the end of our table stood up. Number Zero-Nine, if I remembered the markings on her pod correctly. "Humans," she said. "As in _Homo Sapiens_?"

Minaka looked faintly pleased. "Why, that's it exactly! Zero-Two, I must commend you on how much background information you were able to give them."

"Thank you, Mina-tan," the redhead chirped.

Zero-Nine seemed to be shivering for some reason. "Are you saying," she said in a low tone. "That you want us to cooperate with a bunch of over-evolved _monkeys_?"

Takehito blanched. "Well, that is true, but—"

"That's _outrageous!"_ she exclaimed. "I don't see anything to suggest why I should be subservient to simple primates!" She raised a hand and numerous drops of a clear liquid formed and gathered into a small sphere in her palm. "Can a monkey do _this?"_

"Zero-Nine, stand down!" Minaka had lost his smile and now looked quite angry.

The blonde stared back defiantly, her hair raising on end as her magical energy swirled around her. Suddenly, her expression changed to one of dismay as the ball of water continued to gather and grow in her hand. "I... I don't know how!" she wailed.

Takehito sighed unhappily. "That's what I was afraid of," he said. He lifted his head towards one corner of the room. "Zero-One?"

There was a sudden blur of movement and a black-robed figure appeared behind Zero-Nine. Her arm appeared to vanish and there was a quick movement behind the blonde's neck, almost too fast for me to see, and then suddenly the Zero-Nine had collapsed, the water she had been collecting falling to the floor with a splash.

"Thank you, Miya," Takehito said.

The purple-haired Sekirei inclined her head politely. "You are most welcome, Takehito-san."

Takehito raised his voice to make sure there was no way we could miss his words. "Please control yourselves, I promise you we will give you the chance to exercise your skills very shortly, but first we must take steps to ensure the safety of everyone involved."

"Hmm," Minaka had dropped his head behind steepled fingers. "Miyajima-sensei, would you like to take charge of that one?"

"I suppose I could," an eldery, stern-looking woman said from the other end of their table.

The petite woman raised her hand. "I can take care of Zero-Six."

"Thank you, Sahashi-sensei."

Takehito looked over at the chairman, "Did you want to try your hand at training one, Minaka-san?"

Minaka waved his hand flippantly. "Maybe later. I'll leave the rest to you for now, Asama-kun," he said. "You or your assistants, I know you do good work."

"Right then," Takehito looked back at the group. "Karasuba, escort Zero-Six and Sahashi-sensei to Training Area 1. Kazehana and Matsu take Zero-Seven and Zero-Eight to Training Area 3, I'll meet you there later. Mutsu, take Zero-Nine and escort Miyajima-sensei to the infirmary for evaluation, then head to Training Area 2 once she recovers."

The members of the Disciplinary Squad immediately moved to their tasks as the various head scientists repeated the assignments to their staff. Zero-Two and Zero-Three stood behind me as I rose to my feet, leading Zero-Eight and I back towards the hallway outside. I watched Zero-Five effortlessly pickup an unconscious Zero-Nine and walk out the door with the elderly scientist in tow. Zero-One, not having been given any orders, stood beside the doorway watching us as we departed.

"Miya, head to the infirmary too," I heard Takehito say as we passed her. "I want to check on your own adjustments."

For some reason, the comment made Zero-Two and Three trade grins with each other as I looked on in confusion.

"As you wish, Takehito-san," I heard Zero-One say as we rounded the corner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Scrapped 02**

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><p>Kamikura was not quite a self-sustaining island, it depended heavily on supplies obtained from the 'mainland'; from things like exotic equipment and spare parts for the labs, to the more mundane like food and fuel for the island's power generators. Roughly once a month a medium-sized transport would arrive, staffed by crew members carefully vetted by Minaka and the Disciplinary Squad to prevent espionage attempts of any sort. In the time since we had been woken up incidents were few and far between, though in the past there had been many attempts to sneak stowaways or equipment compromised with spyware onto the island. According to rumor, Zero-Four had returned such individuals back to the mainland personally.<p>

In boxes. The number of incidents had quickly diminished after that.

I was sitting on the edge of a pier when the ship arrived. I had not been waiting for it; in fact I had been content simply staring across the seawater that divided this island from the mainland, at least until the vessel had slid into port and blocked my view. I settled for watching curiously as workers milled around transferring supplies to the carriers that would transport them to the research facility. Flatbed trucks would drive down, idle for a few minutes as the ship's crew loaded crates of various sizes, then drive back up the road, passing more trucks on their own circuit. It was a process remarkably smooth, considering it required eight to ten individuals to load a single truck.

"Zero-Seven? What are you doing all the way out here?"

I turned away from my survey of the supply train to find Professor Asama standing before me with a small suitcase by his feet. He was dressed in his usual high-collared shirt and slacks, though he was not wearing the lab coat I most often saw him with. "Asama-san," I greeted after a few moments of silence. I flicked my eyes towards his suitcase, then at the ship, then back at him. "You were away?"

"Yes," he said cheerfully, eyes crinkling. "I had to see a friend about a property he's holding for me in the city." His smile remained unchained, but his voice shifted in a way that had my spine suddenly tingling. "It's so hard to keep him on task and keep the place clean. I think one of these days I'll have to bring Miya along with me." He opened his eyes to stare at me, looking somewhat hurt. "Really though, I told you all last month when I was taking my leave. You didn't notice?"

"Ah," I paused and ducked my head, searching my memories. Truth be told, I really had not been paying much attention to the researchers. Most of our interactions had been asking questions of us, or asking us to demonstrate some of our powers. I quickly learned that anything worth finding out, I would probably have to learn from Zero-Two or Zero-Three, the two members of the Disciplinary Squad I saw most often.

I looked back at Takehito with an apologetic shrug. "I forgot."

**ooo**

A personnel carrier drove the two of us back to the lab complex. During the short drive, Takehito asked me about the events during the time he had been away from the island. There wasn't much I could really say. My daily schedule started with one of the orderlies bringing me a small tray of food, then escorting me to the large room which served as my training area. My powers had been quickly discovered to be the manipulation of the water in the air, much like Zero-Nine. Unlike her, however, the water particles would immediately transition to the solid-state of that matter. All efforts to manipulate the liquid form had proven fruitless and the researchers had eventually given up on that possibility.

Almost all of the experiments since then had taken place with only myself present the room itself; the researchers would be safely ensconced behind a large glass barrier in a separate room. Aside from the danger of being around so many sharp objects when my powers were active, my use of it also seemed to make the very air around me uncomfortable for them. After the experiments with my own powers were finished, there would be a short period of time where we were given a second meal and the 'chance to mingle'. Much of my time was spent simply watching the other two Sekirei from my group and our handlers interact. Then it was several more hours of tests—either individually or in groups—and then a third meal where we would then be given the rest of the evening off until our curfew.

"But you would already know this," I pointed out. "Or you could find out from one of your assistants. Why do you need to ask me?"

"Because," Takehito said. "I have been watching you. I've been watching _all_ of you since you woke up. You don't interact much with the others."

"I see Zero-Two, Zero-Three, and Zero-Eight every day," I pointed out. Watching those three had been interesting experiences. Zero-Three in particular would often speak at length about various stories and books she had smuggled in from the mainland. Zero-Eight had quickly been enthralled by this concept of 'love' and 'romance'. There were many times the three of them would dissolve into a giggling mess, much to the amusement of some of the younger researchers. "I have not seen Zero-Six or Zero-Nine in quite some time, however."

"Simply being present is not the same as interacting," he said. He paused, as if waiting for my reply. After a few moments of silence he gave in with a sigh, "If I remember right, Zero-Six seems to be getting along with Sahashi-sensei quite well, especially once he had discovered his own powers."

I nodded, recalling the grey-haired Sekirei's explosive demonstration of his own powers. Coincidentally, that had been the first time I learned I could use my own powers defensively, having reflexively thrown up a wall of ice to divert most of the energy away from myself. It was said that Sahashi-san was training him to control his powers by having him produce the smallest flames he could manage and lighting up these odd, flammable paper rolls she always carried around.

"Zero-Nine is actually on the mainland," Takehito continued. "Minaka-san seems to have authorized Miyajima-sensei to make use of our secondary facility there. I think she's taken on a name as well; Miyajima-sensei said she chose it after hearing stories about the Moon Princess. Although, I can't quite recall what it was off the top of my head... "

I remained quiet. The statement really didn't require a response from me, so I didn't offer one. There was a moment of awkward silence and then he looked at me again.

"So, what were you doing down at the port?" he asked curiously.

"Ah, today was designated a rest day," I explained. "I... wanted to look at the sea."

"The sea?" Takehito frowned.

I knew what he would ask next, but I was struggling to find a way to put the answer to his next question into words. "I like being there," was all I could come up with.

I felt his eyes on me, waiting for further explanation, but I had none to offer. I knew my powers revolved around ice, so I had an affinity with the water element; I felt a connection with it, though it was probably not quite as strong as Zero-Nine's would be. Still, how could I explain that being so close to such a large body of water helped to fill the gaping hole in my existence? It was not even close to a significant portion, but I still felt more comfortable over the water than anywhere else on the island.

In the end I simply shook my head helplessly. We continued in this awkward silence for a few more minutes until the carrier pulled into the loading dock. As it stopped, Takehito reached for the door-handle, but it opened up before he could do so.

"Takehito-san, welcome back." Zero-One had a soft expression as she held the door open for the scientist, but then her eyes narrowed slightly as I climbed out after him. "Number Zero-Seven," she said neutrally.

I inclined my head politely, "Number Zero-One."

Takehito had a bright smile on his face, "It's good to be back, Miya. Oh, don't worry about my bag, I can handle it."

"Are you sure, Takehito-san? It would be no trouble at all... "

"I've got it," he reassured her. He turned and looked at me over his shoulder. "You should head back to the main areas now, Zero-Seven. You shouldn't be out without supervision."

"I understand," I said quietly. I watched as he wheeled his suitcase around and set off for the exit at a brisk pace.

Zero-One stared at me for a few moments longer before she turned to follow him.

**ooo**

"It's love!" Zero-Eight pronounced boldly.

"What?" Zero-Three looked up from the manga she was currently reading.

"It makes sense!" the brown-haired Sekirei pumped a fist excitedly. She rushed over to one of the tables where she kept the books she'd borrowed from the others and emerged holding a brightly-colored manga. "It's just like _Love! Love Bodyguard!_ Miya is in love with Asama-san!"

Zero-Two looked unconvinced. "I think you're day-dreaming a bit too much, Zero-Eight. Miya-tan acting like that... ahh I can't even picture it in my head!"

"Matsu's right," Zero-Three said, reaching over to pluck the book out of Zero-Eight's hands. "Miya's almost as scary as Karasuba. Can you _really_ imagine her acting like this?"

Zero-Eight looked crestfallen, the long strand of hair on her head drooping limply. "I thought you of all people would have backed me up, Kazehana." She pressed her hands against her chest. "I mean, just when you even _think_ about love, doesn't it seem like it fills a little bit in your heart?"

The other two fell silent, then placed a hand over their own chests as they glanced down in introspection. Even I felt a sudden twinge; though I had listened to the three spouting that word over and over in their discussions, something about the sheer passion in Zero-Eight's voice seemed to have triggered something within me. Although instead of reducing the feeling of emptiness, like she had implied, it felt like I was even farther away from being completed than before.

"Love... " It wasn't until I noticed everyone staring at me before I realized I had spoken out loud.

Zero-Eight stabbed a finger towards me. "See? Even Zero-Seven is reacting to the word!"

"Hm... " Zero-Two rubbed a hand across her chin thoughtfully. "It seems like Dreamer-tan might be on to something. I should forward that idea to Asama-tan and see what he thinks about it."

"Er," Zero-Eight suddenly froze. "But, uh, can you leave out how we thought of that idea? I don't want Miya to kill me."

"Yes, yes... " Zero-Two waved a hand flippantly as she closed her eyes and concentrated. "Hm, it looks like he's still working. Kazehana-tan can you escort them back to their rooms when curfew hits?"

"I can do that," Zero-Three tossed the bodyguard manga back towards Zero-Eight and picked up the one she was reading before.

"Ah." Without thinking, I raised a hand out as the book flew past and deftly snatched it out of the air. I glanced over at a confused-looking Zero-Eight. "May I borrow this?"

Zero-Eight's wide grin was all the answer I needed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Scrapped 03**

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><p>Watching the supply vessels coming into port had become something of a habit for me. Although the MBI dockworkers were routine in their tasks, it was still enough of a difference from my usual routine that it almost felt relaxing. Some of them had come to expect me, some of them even called out to me. I was known as the <em>tsu no shoujo<em>, 'the Port Girl'. It wasn't a very inspiring title, but then again the workers here had been chosen for their physical capability, not their grasp of poetry. Some of the newer workers would try to engage me in conversation while in between loads, but the more experienced ones had accepted that I rarely spoke at all and simply took my presence for granted.

A shadow fell across my body as I continued watching the workers. I knew immediately who it was, but I continued my observations until he good-naturedly cleared his throat. "Have I earned your blessing, O Port Girl, that I've been able to come back safely?"

"I was simply watching the sea, as you should well know by now, Asama-san," I replied. I finally turned to look at the scientist, looking as cheerful as ever. Actually, he seemed much happier lately, which I put down to the presence of his traveling companion. "Zero-One," I greeted.

"Zero-Seven," Miya greeted in return. Takehito had been taking her with him on his occasional trips to the mainland. Although the scientist had ditched his lab-coat and dress shirts for comfortable sweaters and slacks, the leader of the Disciplinary Squad had traded in her abbreviated uniform for much more restrictive clothing. Both her upper and lower garments were much longer and cut from a heavier cloth than what she normally wore, and their light, pastel colors were a far cry from the somber blacks and greys of the Squad. Had I been Takehito's bodyguard I would have chafed at the restrictive clothing, but Miya appeared strangely comfortable in them.

For the first time in months, Takehito did not invite me to travel back with him to the research lab. Instead, he merely asked if I was okay where I was as he summoned a personnel carrier. Although I told him I would be fine and would be able to make it back on my own, I felt another stab of emptiness as he climbed into the passenger space. I'm certain it had nothing to do with the gentle hold he had on Miya's hand as he guided her in, nor with the comfortable arm he draped across her shoulders. I stared after the carrier as it disappeared into the distance, then slowly turned back towards the supply ship and the milling workers around it.

**ooo**

Takehito and Miya. It had been nearly a week since Zero-Two had forwarded Zero-Eight's theories to the research teams. Takehito had moved forward with the experiments which had resulted with he and Miya bonding together. Similar to how we had been dubbed 'Sekirei', a local avian species native to Japan, the research team had classified the process as a 'Winging Ritual'. It seemed the ritual had unlocked some sort of genetic memory from Miya, as shortly afterwards she had referred to Takehito with a new title in our language. The research team's closest translation for the alien word to Japanese had been 'Ashikabi', though I had no idea how a 'water reed' and a 'fang' corresponded to what amounted to a life-mate.

Somewhere in the process, Miya had seemed to mellow out significantly. She was no longer as cold and distant from the others as she'd been before and while still uncommon, it was not unheard of to catch her with a soft, enigmatic smile on her face. The dynamics within the Disciplinary Squad had been altered, however. Zero-Five, Mutsu, was still as aloof as ever, but Matsu and Kazehana would often try to corner their leader with questions, often until she grew annoyed enough with them to draw _Totsuka no Tsurugi _on them. Zero-Four, Karasuba, had been... less than pleased with the change and made no secret of her disgust.

I still had very little word on Zero-Nine, who now called herself 'Tsukiumi', but from what little I did hear told me she had not been pleased by the news. Zero-Eight, on the other hand, had been ecstatic. Not only had her earlier conclusions about the couple been proven correct, but she had declared it her mission in life that every Sekirei, including the ones still safely incubating, would successfully find their Ashikabi so they too could experience Love – capital L included. "I will be the Hand of Fate," she had declared. "Guiding our younger brethren to meet with their destined ones! That is my Dream!" To further announce her resolve, she had taken on the moniker, 'Yume'.

So far of the original group, only myself and Zero-Six had yet to choose names for ourselves. In the Flame Sekirei's case, however, it seemed more like indecision; Takami Sahashi appeared to have suggested almost a dozen names for him to choose from, two of which he was still going back and forth between. I still had not put in much thought into a name of my own, but if worse came to worse, I could formally adopt my own temporary nickname. Port Girl didn't really have much of a ring to it though...

**ooo**

The next day, on my way to the training room, I came across the odd sight of our top two geneticists in an open argument with Minaka. The corridor was not even close to abandoned, but junior researchers simply walked around the trio nervously. Even as I approached, they remained completely focused on their heated discussion.

"It's a horrible idea," Takami was saying. "All of our research until now has been into stabilizing them so they could defend themselves in case we were invaded again. Now you want us to try to _suppress_ them?"

"If this Plan is to work, it will become necessary," the chairman explained. "Too much of a power imbalance will cause the whole thing to fall apart."

"It's too risky," Takehito concluded. "We don't even fully know the long-term results from the first five. We were just about to begin the adjustments for the next group based on the levels they've already displayed."

"Well, that's not a problem then!" Minaka proclaimed. "We're _scientists!_ What do we do when we need to figure something out? We experiment!" He suddenly poked his head up, staring straight at me. "Excellent! Zero-Seven, come here for a moment!"

I dutifully closed the remaining distance to the three, noting the uneasy expressions on Takehito and Takami's faces. I didn't let any of my own unease show on my face, presenting a blank expression towards the chairman. "Yes, Minaka-san?"

"How have you been lately?" he seemed remarkably animated today, even more than usual. "Are you getting along with the others alright? No fights I hope!"

"Ah," I quickly decided not to dwell on Takehito and Miya's relationship, "I have been feeling well. And no, there have been no problems between myself and the others."

"Good, good," he was answering almost before I had finished speaking. He pulled a blocky device from his coat and thumbed it to life, pecking at the square keys and narrowing his eyes at the primitive digital screen. "Wonderful device," he mumbled. "Can you believe that over in the western countries they've still got ones that take up an entire desk? Anyhow... I see you have phenomenal control over... ice. Quite useful I suppose... and your physical capabilities are quite impressive as well!"

I simply tilted my head to the side. Truth be told, Yume's own physical prowess dwarfed my own, and in the few mock battles we'd had she'd consistently been able to punch a hole through my ice barriers, either with her fists, or the massive directed explosions she was able to produce. Still, since Matsu considered herself an 'Information' type, and Kazehana was more of a ranged fighter, I was the closest person she had to a regular sparring partner. Nobody even considered asking Miya or Karasuba, and Mutsu was absent more often than not, supervising Tsukiumi's training sessions in the mainland facility.

Minaka had clicked his way through a few more screens during my silence, then he lifted his head towards the female researcher. "Sahashi-san, I don't see your final report on Zero-Six here."

Takami sighed, "He's still a bit unstable, it's difficult to nail down his average power levels when he's fluctuating so much. Give me another week and I'll have enough data to just figure out a mean."

"Hrm..." Minaka tapped the bulky device against his chin thoughtfully. "You'll have a week, but I want results for this sooner if we can. Asama-san, can you put together a solution for Zero-Seven and Zero-Eight?"

Takehito narrowed his eyes, "I have a formula ready for the both of them, but only to our original specifications. It will take me some time to work out a new one for what you're asking."

"I want one by tomorrow."

"That's... " Takehito sputtered. "That's not nearly enough time!"

"But you just said, you already have a formula. All you have to do is tweak it a bit," Minaka's glasses glittered in excitement. "There's no time to waste, my friend! I have every confidence you can pull this off. And the sooner we do, the sooner we can recreate the Age of the Gods!" He pocketed his portable computer and spun in place, the motion making his lab coat flare out like a superhero's cape. "Tomorrow evening, that age will come!" His laughter echoed down the hallway as he marched off.

I watched him until he turned down a cross-corridor, then looked back at the other two scientists. Takami also had a concerned expression as she stared at Takehito. The chief geneticist's head was lowered as his shoulders shook briefly. The normally cheerful man had a grim expression on his face when he finally looked up.

"Sahashi-san, could you find Yume and let her know of her revised schedule for tomorrow?" His voice was low, he was looking at the opposite wall, avoiding both of our gazes. "Zero-Seven, report to the main lab at sixteen-hundred hours tomorrow. You're off until then, do whatever you would like."

"Asama-kun," Takami said. She reached out a hand but pulled it back as he waved her off.

"I need to get back to work," he said brusquely. He spun down the hallway for his own office.

"Asama-san," I said quietly. I waited as he slowed to a stop, but he still didn't turn around. My thoughts raced as I tried to find the proper words to encourage him. Yes I was worried at the thought of being experimented on, but this was Takehito. "We'll be fine," I finally said. "I trust in your ability."

There was a snort. "We'll see," he said.

**ooo**

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><p>.<p>

.

.

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><p>Pain.<p>

Molten lava flowing through my veins.

Light.

The sound of equipment exploding somewhere to the side.

Panicked voices at the edge of my consciousness. Screams and cries from the lab technicians. One voice rose above the others.

"Stop the treatment!"

Stars.

Every single nerve in my body triggered, it felt like miniature supernovas going off at random.

My body was not mine to command, sparks of pain sent my limbs twitching every which way. An arm spasmed into the air, my back arched against the table, a leg scraped against the surgical platform. I was probably screaming, but if I was I couldn't hear it over the pounding of my heart.

"Zero-Eight has been stabilized!"

"What about Zero-Seven?"

Darkness.

Cables overstressed by the cold snapped and a whole bank of computer terminals went offline.

Pressure.

My head felt as if it was being squeezed open.

"Sedatives! _Now!_ On both of them!"

Through the pain, the screams, the clamoring of alarms, a single sound cut through the air. A cackling, mad sort of laughter. The sound echoed through my consciousness before I mercifully dropped back into the darkness.

_Emptiness._ I felt...

...

...nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

_(a/n) – okay. she's scrapped. it's over now, right? nevar! the plot thickens +_+  
>sort of...<em>

_i know there's prolly more than a few people who might be slightly miffed that everybody seems to know everybody 'back in the day'... i know canon-wise that's limited to the original squad. my justification is 2 parts:_

_1) 07 (and you should all know who she is by now...) has not yet chosen a name. so in 'the future', when people talk about her by name, they wont recognize it. they will, however, recognize 'Scrapped'  
>speaking of which, i figured out half the justification for her name, i have no idea how to get to the other half...<br>_

_2) it's a story! 'nuff said. (i also put AU, clearly that absolves me of a~all continuity errors *nod nod*)  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Scrapped 04<strong>

* * *

><p>Bright.<p>

I opened my eyes to a brilliance that made me immediately wish to close my eyes and escape back into the darkness. However, several things kept me from doing so. First was the blurry outline of a figure leaning over me, I couldn't quite identify them with the room's floodlights backlighting their face, but I saw enough detail to know my visitor was female. Next was a repetitive tapping against the glass as the figure strummed their hands against the lid of my pod to get my attention. Finally, the room's lighting was set at such an angle that I could see a blurry image of myself reflected on the inside lid.

Myself, and the discolored splotch of red set against my forehead.

My return to the waking world was quickly noticed by my visitor as she stopped tapping at the glass and moved her hand to manipulate something out of my sight. The lid to the pod cracked down the middle and parted, and I carefully raised myself back into a sitting position.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're awake." Matsu leaned forward to stare at my face. She looked unusually concerned, an expression that immediately set off alarm bells in my head. "How are you feeling, Zero-Seven?" she asked.

How was I feeling? Why would she be asking... oh.

I remembered.

Had I possessed less self-control than I did, I might have leaned heavily against the wall of my pod, or collapsed into gasping convulsions from the mental shock. The memories of the aborted adjustment procedure flooded back into my mind, bringing back the raw sensations of pain and agony that had sliced their way through my body, ignoring whatever anesthetics the researchers had been using. Had I been in less control of myself, I might have clutched at my chest at the renewed _emptiness_ I felt.

It was an odd sensation; I felt more in touch with my element than I had ever been previously, more in control. However, I also felt there was something else that should have accompanied that sensation of power. Not only was I missing that _something_ I had been lacking already, but now I felt like I was missing something even _worse._ Had I been less in control of myself, I might have suddenly broke down crying.

Instead I simply stared impassively at Zero-Two, waiting for the Information Sekirei to tell me what I needed to know. What I wanted to know. What I was afraid to know.

Matsu's face stared at me sadly as the seconds ticked by. I could read the play of emotions on her face clearly: fear, regret, sorrow; none of it made me feel any better about the information she was keeping from me.

A rustling sound came from behind her and the decision to break the silence was taken out of both of our hands. "I think you broke her... " Yume said dryly. Zero-Eight was sitting out of her own pod across from mine, clutching at her stomach with a queasy expression. "How long have I – we – been out?" she asked. She had a haunted look on her face and I knew she was feeling the same gaping emptiness I was.

"Three days," Kazehana said. The Wind Sekirei stood over her pod, looking just as depressed as Matsu did. "Sahashi-san and Miyajima-san have been working around the clock to get you two stabilized again. How do you feel?"

"Like crap," the brunette admitted.

"I..." the sound of my voice drew Matsu's attention back to me. "I feel..." I closed my eyes and shook my head. "What has happened?" I finally asked.

**ooo**

As Takehito had feared, there had been an unexpected reaction to whatever cocktail of drugs they had been using to tweak our genetic code. The original formula, developed and tested on the Disciplinary Squad, had been carefully researched and tailored to each specific Sekirei to stabilize their powers. It was a masterful achievement in genetics, all the more so because it had been developed within a few weeks of our discovery. From what Matsu understood of the process, Takehito had used Miya – the only one of us to have been fully mature at the time – as a baseline for the other four's adjustments.

Unfortunately, Hiroto Minaka had demanded an impossible miracle. He had asked his chief geneticist to modify the existing formula to a new baseline which would have brought our physical and metaphysical abilities down by an average of half. Not only was there no such template of the modified genes to for his team to work from, but the time-frame the chairman had ordered was insane. He had asked for a mere twenty-four hours for the new formula to be produced and implemented.

It was an unreasonable request by any stretch of imagination and I wondered why Takehito had not exercised his own authority to buy more time. My opinion was shared by Yume, but when she asked about it, Matsu froze up slightly and stared at the floor. We all recognized her behavior as one where the redhead possessed the information we were asking for, but was unwilling or unable to reveal it. We also knew from experience that she would keep her counsel no matter how much we pressed her, so we reluctantly dropped that line of inquiry.

The resulting procedure had proven catastrophic. Although Matsu's words were carefully chosen to downplay what had occurred, what she did tell us was still shocking enough. Both Yume and I had suffered an extreme reaction to the treatments. The surgical tables we had been strapped to had been destroyed as our powers exploded out of control – for Yume, that had been the literal case. In mere seconds, almost all the equipment in the main lab had been reduced to nothing more than plastic and precious metals, costing the company billions of yen's worth in damages.

The researchers caught up in the backlash had not escaped unharmed either. Many of the less experienced ones learned first-hand why both of our training sessions had taken place in isolated rooms. Of the twenty or so present for the procedure, three out of four of them had suffered minor burns or frostbite from exposure to our powers. One in four had suffered life-threatening wounds, some requiring amputation of limbs. Two researchers had been killed.

As depressing that part of the report was, Matsu had saved the worst of it for last. "After that explosion of power, just before they were able to sedate you two, the remainder of your powers seared a crest into your bodies."

I raised a hand to brush against my forehead as she told us; I saw Yume scratching at her stomach as well, fighting the urge to rip off her medical gown to stare at it.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

Matsu closed her eyes. "The crest is similar to what was described when Asama-san 'Winged' Miya. Sahashi-san confirmed both of your bodies have transitioned to a 'Winged' state. Your power levels have also stabilized, albeit at a much higher level than had been projected."

"We're Winged?" Yume asked interestedly. Despite the grave situation she smiled and seemed to sit up straighter. "So who's our Ashikabi?"

Matsu was quiet for long moments. Kazehana stared at the wall, unwilling to face us. I closed my eyes, dreading the answer even as Yume spoke up again, her voice slightly strained.

"Hey, Matsu. Who's my Ashikabi? Who's my destined one?" Though I couldn't see her, I could easily imagine the twisted expression on Yume's face as her voice broke. "Matsu? _Answer me!"_

"We don't have one," I whispered. I opened my eyes slowly and saw Yume's stricken face turned towards mine. Matsu and Kazehana were still refusing to meet our gazes. "We don't have one and yet we're Winged. So... we..." I let my voice trail off, unwilling to complete the thought.

"... so you will probably _never_ find an Ashikabi," Matsu choked out. "Your body already thinks it's been Winged, so you won't have a Reaction. It's like... your body's senses were damaged."

"Damaged," I mulled over the word. I tried to imagine my life now, I couldn't fill the void with the _something_ I had been missing. If an Ashikabi was the key to that and I could no longer find one... "No, we are not simply damaged.

"We're broken."

**ooo**

At some point later in the day, I found myself seated down by the port. There were no shipments for another few weeks, so I had an unobstructed view of the sea as the waves flowed and crested beneath me. There were no dockworkers to distract me or call out to me. No cacophony of engines from the various supply trucks and heavy lifting equipment. I was left with just the rhythmic, calming motions of the water, but I could no longer draw even the most minor of comforts from it. I don't remember when I had arrived, or how I had gotten out here. My mind had been preoccupied with everything I had learned today.

An odd grinding sound rose above the ambient noise, but I waited until it had faded before I looked over my shoulder. Takehito shifted uncomfortably in a wheelchair, one of his legs heavily bandaged, but at least it seemed more or less intact. The scientist seemed unusually somber, but that was to be expected given recent events. Miya stood quietly behind him, looking at me with cold eyes, her hand on her sword hilt. I was rather nonplussed by her behavior; I could understand the anger, but I didn't see why she saw me as a threat.

I shifted position, bringing my leg up from over the edge so I could stare at the new addition to my wardrobe. A slim plastic band dug into my leg just above the ankle, tiny diodes blinking with a cheerful-looking glow. A junior researcher had come the room after Matsu had finished her explanation, affixing the band to both Yume and myself while we watched curiously. Once they were in place, he'd thumbed a remote and I suddenly felt my body grow heavier, as if I no longer had the strength to carry it around. Worse, the faint connection I had always maintained with my element had vanished.

Power limiters. I had no idea when they had been developed, but it was clear the scientists no longer trusted two Sekirei who had 'allowed' their powers to go out of control.

In deference, I decided to break the silence myself. "Asama-san. Zero-One."

Curiously, Miya did not return my greeting.

"Minaka has plans for the Sekirei," Takehito said without preamble. It did not escape my attention that the usually polite man had dropped the honorary suffix from the chairman's name. "Once we figure out the revised process, the remaining embryos will be matured, adjusted, and released; most likely it will be in the vicinity of our secondary facility. But still into the wild, as it were."

So the chairman still wished to proceed with the new adjustment process, even after witnessing just how it could go wrong. I did wonder why he would release the Sekirei from the researchers' direct control, however. I knew enough about The Invasion to know Minaka didn't want the rest of the world to get their hands on the Sekirei and the technology of Kamikura Island. Yet, now he was giving them free reign over a city?

Either Takehito was used to me enough be able to read my expression, or he'd already expected I wouldn't be saying anything. "The reason I'm telling you this," he said to my unspoken question, "Is because this plan involves each of the Sekirei to find an Ashikabi within the city and be Winged by them." His chest heaved as he sighed. "You're not going to be going with them."

This time there was no mistaking the naked curiosity in my eyes.

"I'm sure you've found out already, but you can't be Winged anymore. Thus, Minaka has declared you useless to his plan. You've been re-designated as..." Takehito looked away. "As garbage to be discarded. As scrap. As of today, Number Zero-Seven no longer exists. There is only a Scrapped Number."

I felt a weight drop into my chest. First I had lost the chance to find my Ashikabi, then I had lost my powers, now I found out I had lost my identity. I couldn't see how this day could get any worse.

At least now I knew why Miya hadn't returned my greeting. She literally had nothing to call me by.

**ooo**

Oddly enough, I found I had more freedom than ever. Since I was no longer part of the Sekirei Plan, there were no researchers to experiment with my powers, not that I had any with the limiter in place. With the exception of the laboratories and other sensitive areas, I had free reign of the complex. I could still visit the common rooms, the dining halls, and the other training areas.

For the first time in months I was able to see Zero-Six as he went through his paces with Takami watching over him carefully. However, when I entered the room, the Flame Sekirei looked at me with an expression of utter disgust.

"What's _she_ doing here?" he demanded.

Takami arched an eyebrow, "I'm not sure, but there's nothing that says she can't. She's free to do whatever she pleases for now."

"She's _Scrap_," the grey-haired man bit out. He moved to stand protectively between his adjuster and myself. "There's no telling what kind of damage she'll do if she loses control again."

Takami grabbed her clipboard and slapped the irate Sekirei upside the back of his head. "She's got a limiter on, Homura. She's no threat at the moment. Continue with your drills."

Ah, so Zero-Six had settled on a name, 'Homura'. I felt a twinge of sadness, I had hoped he would choose 'Kagari'. Homura ignored Takami's instructions, choosing instead to glare at me, one hand raised and cupping a small ball of flame threateningly.

"Leave," he said coldly. "I'm not going to let you put everybody here at risk."

"Ho-mu-ra~a... " Takami stretched out the word, but paused when I raised a hand placatingly.

"I will go," I said quietly. I left the room without a backwards glance, but instead of leaving the area, I walked to the short cross-corridor and walked into the first room there.

As I entered the observation room, I saw Matsu sitting there in the corner. She looked up as I entered and waved at me with a weak smile.

"Don't worry about Homura-tan," she said with mock cheerfulness. "He just doesn't know you as well as the rest of us do. He probably thinks you're the type to go berserk, kill everybody around you, and then settle down for some nice, uh, iced tea afterwards."

"Is that what they think of me?" I asked as I stood in front of the mirrored glass.

"Well, everybody but me, Kazehana, and Yume." Matsu adjusted her glasses. "Ma~aybe some of the research staff."

I looked at her.

"Okay everybody but us and probably Asama-tan think you and Yume are now demons," Matsu said, slumping into her seat. "Although I think that just made Karasuba even more interested in you two. She's actually half the reason they slapped limiters on you two. They don't want her trying to challenge you to a deathmatch or something."

I didn't dwell on the idea that the Black Sekirei wanted my head. In fact I half welcomed it. At least it meant one person was actively interested in me. For all that Matsu said she was fine around me, even I could see she was slightly nervous in my presence. I had no reason to think Kazehana felt any more charitable towards me. Takami had been studiously neutral towards me. Takehito was most likely simply guilty over his part, he still kept Miya around him whenever I saw him. Yume was in the same position I was. Everybody else... feared me. They feared I was unpredictable, I was threatening.

I was broken.

"At least we shouldn't have to worry about other cases like you two," Matsu said quietly after a moment. "The latest progress reports say Asama-tan's team may have found the key points why your adjustments failed. It was basically a combination of too much, too fast. So they're going to try smaller doses over a longer period of time. They're maturing Numbers-Ten, Eleven, and Twelve to adolescents, then they'll apply the treatment in stages as they grow naturally.

I felt the band around my heart loosen slightly. I felt a slight relief. At least no one else would have to suffer like Yume and I were. Still, one thing nagged at me. I turned away from the window to stare at Matsu. "Why does Minaka-san want to move forward with this so quickly?"

Like before, Matsu's face went rigid. Her eyes flicked over towards mine, then back out the viewport. She was quiet for long moments, seemingly staring at Homura throwing out fireballs of various sizes. I started to think she wouldn't answer this time either, but she suddenly shifted in her seat.

"I have... a theory," she said at last. She turned towards me and slipped her glasses off, toying with the arms briefly as she stared not _quite_ at my face. "But before I can confirm anything, I need to ask Miya about it first." She slipped her glasses back on and tapped her head self-deprecatingly. "It might be nothing, after all!" she said brightly.

**ooo**

In the early hours a few days later, long after everybody else in the facility had settled down for the night, I had a dream.

Dreams rarely came often; generally speaking, I didn't really require much sleep. When I did, I settled almost instantly into a deep sleep and would wake up just as quickly a few short hours later. That night, not only was I feeling unusually lethargic, but I had the most coherent dream in my life up until that point.

It involved a woman; I couldn't make out any of her features, but she had flowing dark hair and somehow seemed to stare deeply into me even though I could not see her eyes. When she spoke, I understood she was saying my name, even though I couldn't make out her words.

_I'm sorry ~~~, _she said. _I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I wish for you to become strong. Strong enough to protect the ones important to you. Strong enough to protect _yourself_. . ._

I woke up with a start, catapulting myself into a sitting position. I could still hear whispers of the dream speaking into my head.

_That is my only wish to you, ~~~  
><em>

_. . . as I step down from God's Throne. . ._

**ooo**

The next morning was chaos. Sekirei Zero-One, Miya, had vanished.


	5. Chapter 5

_(a/n) – i almost didn't want to continue this, just because chapter 4 ended with the word count EXACTLY at 10k. i'm just weird like that._

_continuing my author's notes from chapter 4, i thought a bit more about my justification for breaking canon this way..._

_...  
><em>

_the main problem i have is the sekirei timeline: kamikura was discovered in 1999, the Plan starts by 2020. assuming the original 5 were woken up right away in time for the invasion, that's 20-21 years to wake up the remaining 105. if we try to keep them apart so they don't know each other, that's roughly a max of 5 sekirei per year, a little over 2 months to hatch, train, and raise each Sekirei before they're released._

_i doubt minaka thought of the plan right away, so that cuts into the available time, and increases the chance of each Sekirei meeting, so i just scrapped that whole idea and made my current one._

_my interpretation of the adjustment process is to 'balance' all of the sekirei, which is sorta keeping in the 'game-mentality' minaka seems to have. while the original 5 have the excuse that they were already adjusted by that point, homura and tsukiumi are still much stronger than the other sekirei._

_because of that, i developed the idea that akitsu (and yume) getting scrapped was the reason they started growing them young instead of instantly maturing them. (and i'm certain they have that ability because of my earlier 'time-to-mature-and-release' analysis)_

_for interactions, i think i put it in one of my notes on the previous chapter post, but it boils down to:_

_• the Disciplinary Squad know each other, no getting around that._

_• I don't think Homura was terribly surprised in the revelation of Matsu and Miya's past, more that she had cut a ship in half (i could have missed it, but i mostly recall only minato, tsukiumi, and musubi being surprised. kuu was seemed to take it in stride), it suggests he _may_ have had some interaction with the squad.  
>it does mean i flubbed tsukiumi early on, but i tried to offset that by keeping her out from that point, except for side-mentions<em>

_• canon-wise, i don't think homura has ever really interacted with akitsu beyond 'you're a scrapped number!' and asking why she follows mikogami. also, the seki!wiki states that akitsu 'seems to possess some knowledge on subjects like the first generation Disciplinary Squad'... i took that line and ran with it._

_• and then my final fallback... it's AU! (which makes everything make PERFECT sense!)_

_...  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Scrapped 05<strong>

* * *

><p>The days and weeks that followed after Zero-One had dropped off the face of the earth could best be described as 'controlled chaos'. For most of the junior researchers it was simply business as usual, running tests and reporting the findings to their superiors. So far, the revised adjustment mixtures and procedures Takehito had prescribed seemed to have no ill effects on Number Ten. While his team continued running tests to verify her stability, Numbers Eleven and Twelve were being prepped for their own adjustments by the chief geneticist.<p>

With Miya's disappearance, the perceived strength of the Disciplinary Squad as a whole was found lacking. Each member was now accompanied by four-man squads from the company's crack-team of commandos, ostensibly to act as support for the remaining Sekirei in the event of a crisis situation. However, despite this justification, it was clear to us – or rather it was clear to Matsu, who then explained it to us – that MBI's leaders no longer completely trusted the Disciplinary Squad.

The situation also increased tensions within the Squad itself. Karasuba made no secret of her desire to supplant Miya as the leader of the group, while Kazehana decided that such a role should be based on seniority. Since Matsu was very vocal in her _un_willingness to take on the role, the next in line would have been the Wind Sekirei. Mutsu, who had been recalled back to the island, suggested that they simply allow MBI handle the appointment of their new leader, as a compromise. The two had eventually agreed, whereupon Kazehana had quickly set out to _convince_ the chairman to see her way. Karasuba expressed an equal interest in the idea, though I assumed her idea of 'convincing' was not quite the same as the Zero-Three's.

Meanwhile, the rest of the chairman's energy seemed to be devoted towards locating the missing Sekirei. An entire room – myself included – had been witness to a short argument that had broken out when Minaka had confronted Takehito in the dining hall asking about Miya's whereabouts. I could understand the reasoning behind the chief's logic: since Takehito was Miya's Ashikabi, it made sense that he would have the best chance of knowing where she was.

I don't know if it was Minaka's intention to publicly censure the man or at least pressure him into talking, but Takehito stood his ground and spoke calmly in the face of the others' agitation, assuring him that he was not aware of _Sekirei Zero-One's_ current location.

A mix of emotions had played out over Minaka's face, far too quickly for me to have any hope of interpreting them. He finally settled on a mix between exasperation and resignation, scratching at his head as he left the room.

**ooo**

Number Ten's successful adjustments had prompted Minaka to order the facility to move forward with the next phase of his Sekirei Plan. The remainder of the eggs in suspended animation were thawed and matured. With Takehito's breakthroughs, determining a juvenile Sekirei's baseline was now a simple, technical matter and the researchers were broken into smaller teams. They used a systematic approach to quickly determine a Sekirei's type, whether they were elemental users like Homura, power users like Karasuba, information types like Matsu, or manipulators like Number Ten herself. Some fell between several categories: like Kazehana, who generally manipulated the air around her but could also generate her own winds similar to an elementalist; or Yume, who was primarily a power user but also possessed an elemental affinity... if directed explosions could be called such a thing.

Another battery of tests were used to quickly figure out the upper and lower ranges of a Sekirei's power, and shortly thereafter the teams would begin the adjustment process. The new procedure took place as a series of injections over the course of several weeks, rather than the single injection which had been used up until then; the idea being to introduce the changes the scientists wanted without shocking the Sekirei into breaking itself. Each cocktail would serve to both increase a Sekirei's control over their powers, and to limit their total effectiveness. Minaka had called his new plan 'a Game worthy of the Gods', and the adjustment process seemed to be very much like a series of balancing patches.

Power users kept a greater portion of their physical attributes when they were fully adjusted, their strength and speeds set to parameters far beyond what humans could achieve. Elementalists had their powers and speed stabilized to roughly equivalent levels, but their physical strength was further reduced. Manipulators were somewhat in between the two, roughly on equal level with their manipulations as the elementalists. While a manipulator could be stripped of their chosen weapon, the latter had constant access to their element. To balance them, their physical stats, not quite as fast or as strong as the power Sekirei, were not much lower either.

The only exceptions to this new process were the Disciplinary Squad and the remaining two members of my group. As fully matured Sekirei, the 'Single Digits' kept to the original adjustments Takehito had designed. Because of the accident which had resulted in Yume's and my ejection from the Plan, Minaka decided he was unwilling to risk further loss of valuable 'competitors' and had allowed Homura and Tsukiumi to be adjusted to their existing baselines.

Or so he claimed.

I did wonder why, after Homura had successfully completed his adjustment procedure, the chairman appeared to have burn patches over his upper body when he next appeared in public areas. It was also the last time I saw Homura on Kamikura Island. He was soon transferred over to the mainland facility with Tsukiumi shortly after his adjustments had settled.

**ooo**

Though we had plenty of free time on our hands, Yume and I were discouraged from interacting with the new generation of Sekirei. Sometimes we simply idled in the common rooms with an off-duty Matsu or Kazehana. Sometimes she joined me in the observation booths as we watched the newcomers exercising their powers – stretching out their wings, as it were – under the watchful eye of the research teams. Occasionally one of the young Sekirei would turn an eye towards the mirrored glass, it was clear they could sense our presence. Though I could not hear what questions they may have asked or the researchers' responses, I noted how the newcomers' expressions often turned wary and they would maintain a careful distance from our side of the room after that.

It was clear that stories of That Day had spread to the rest of the staff who had not witnessed it firsthand. Like almost all rumors, the tales that spread had less and less to do with an accidental discharge of power and failed experiment, and more to do with a cautionary tale of dangerous Sekirei overstepping their limits. We were vilified in the eyes of the staff and the newly hatched Sekirei, the latter beginning to avoid us as much as possible, even in the common areas.

Despite the busy schedule the rest of the researchers were now following, Takehito still seemed to find time to break away on his monthly excursions to the mainland. Unfortunately, due to the heightened security, I was no longer allowed outside the facility without supervision, so I was no longer able to see him off or welcome him on his return. Still, a few days after his most recent trip, I found myself in his office at his request.

Joining us was a man I had never seen before. His whole appearance – from his messy hair to the stubble on his jaw; from his casual expression to the rough clothing he wore – simply screamed 'scruffy'. A jacket was hanging over the back of his chair, and he was clutching a white bandage to his arm.

When I walked in to Takehito's office, the man was glaring at the scientist, but he looked up with a calculating stare as I entered the room. His eyes roved over my body, settling on my chest, and he grinned as he leaned back in his seat. "Ni~ice," he drawled. "So, what's _your_ name, cutie?"

"Kaoru," Takehito didn't look up as he poked at the computer in front of him. "Please, save it for when you get back to Tokyo." He paged through another screen of reports and reviewed them quickly, then finally turned towards me. "Ah, Seven, feel free to sit down if you'd like."

'Kaoru' grimaced as I slowly sat into a nearby chair. "What kind of name is 'Seven'? Why didn't you give her a name like you did with—"

"They choose their own names," Takehito interrupted him. "She simply hasn't yet, which is actually sort of a problem, because technically she doesn't have a number, either."

The scruffy man looked at me with new eyes. "Ah, so this is one of the 'Scrapped Ones'?" He made a disapproving sound. "What was Minaka thinking?"

Takehito had come around his desk with a small tool in his hand. "Who knows what our esteemed leader thinks, nowadays?" he asked rhetorically. He pushed another chair over in front of me, but simply waved towards it instead of sitting down. "Seven, let me see your leg."

I dutifully lifted and propped my foot on the chair without any comment. The band around my ankle stuck out harshly against my pale skin. Takehito held the tool against the band for a moment, then tapped out a short code. The accessory beeped in response, then fell away from my skin. Without the limiter's debilitating effects I felt rejuvenated, the connection to my element making my limbs tingle as if they had been asleep. I stared at my hands as power began circulating through my body once more, dropping my leg back to the floor as I did so.

"What's that thing?" Kaoru asked, staring down at the inert bracelet.

"It's part of the reason I brought you over here," Takehito said evasively. "Seven, how do you feel? Can you still use your abilities?"

"Ah," I flexed my hands and allowed a large crystal of ice to form above it. "It would appear so, Asama-san."

"Ah, so she _does_ speak," Kaoru said. I noticed he was rubbing at the bandage on his arm. He looked over at Takehito, "Does it matter which hand?"

"It shouldn't." Takehito looked at me apologetically. "Seven, we're running a little experiment. I want you to try to maintain that crystal as long as you can, will you do that for me?"

I slowly nodded, keeping my eyes on the ice. From the corner of my eye I watched the two men exchanged glances, then Kaoru leaned forward in his chair towards me.

"This shouldn't hurt a bit," the scruffy man said. "At least I don't think." With that he reached out and grabbed on to my wrist.

As if a switch had been flipped, I felt my connection with my ice flicker and disappear entirely once again. As the crystal evaporated into the air, I couldn't quite keep the disappointed expression from my face. After a short moment, he released my hand and I felt the connection return. Without waiting for permission, I exerted myself and recreated the crystal once again.

Takehito leaned back with a pleased expression. "How do you feel, Seven?"

I squeezed my hands into fists, then opened them again. I looked down at my wrist, but there were no marks left from Kaoru's brief contact. "I don't feel anything out of the ordinary," I said calmly. In truth, I was extremely happy to be able to touch my element again, I hadn't realized just how much I had missed it. However, I didn't want to get my hopes up, because I knew I would be wearing the limiter again before I left the room.

Takehito smiled, "Excellent, it would appear that there are no side effects. What about you, Kaoru?"

"I feel fine, except for you stabbing me with that thing you call a needle," the other man growled. "So, why did you have me test that on _Nana-ko_ anyhow?"

The geneticist smiled lightly, "Kaoru-kun, please don't rename her at your own convenience. And it's just that all the other Sekirei are busy with the other researchers," Takehito said. "Since Seven here is a Scrapped, she's got the free time for my little side project." He moved around his desk and sat in front of the computer again, quickly entering notes.

Kaoru blanched and leaned away from Takehito. "Well, I've got to call her _something_. A number isn't right, doesn't she have _any_ other name?" He turned a questioning stare towards me.

"Ah," I sifted through my memories for a few seconds. "Some of the workers would call me 'Port Girl'."

Takehito chuckled, "That's right. Before she got Scrapped, she used to be down there every single day. The crew would see her every time they came in for a supply run. I think she started it, oh, two summers ago?"

"If I remember the calendar correctly, it was the autumn season," I corrected him.

Kaoru rubbed his chin, "Port Girl in Autumn?"

"That's way too long, and it sounds ridiculous," Takehito chided him. He nodded towards me. "Seven, you can go now. But could you find Yume for me? I'd like to make sure this experiment works on multiple types of Sekirei as well."

I nodded and lifted myself from my chair. I quietly walked over and opened the door, giving the two men a brief nod before I left in search of my fellow Scrapped Number.

"_Tsu-ko?"_ I heard Kaoru say as the door closed.

"Ka-o-ru~," I heard Takehito reply in an exasperated tone. I felt a sudden chill in the air and heard a very unmanly squeak from the office behind me.

I had turned the corner and was halfway down the next hallway before I suddenly realized Takehito had not replaced my limiter band.

**ooo**

The next morning I was wandering around the common areas, deep in thought. When Yume had returned from her own experiment, she immediately sought me out. It quickly became apparent that I was not the only one he had forgotten to replace the limiter on, much to our cautious surprise. Both of us had mixed feelings, obviously we preferred not to have that situation corrected, but on the other hand the two of us were already on thin ice with the others.

However, given that the two of us were largely ignored ninety-percent of the time, we settled on taking a risk and simply not mentioning it. We would continue to hide our powers while in public, but if anybody asked us directly then we were resolved to answer truthfully. No matter what punishment they would decide for us, we felt it was worth it for the chance to have at least one extra day without our shackles.

Still, it would probably be some time before we were discovered. With the sudden explosion in our population, the island required even more supplies than usual and so the supply ship this time had been almost twice the size as previous vessels. Unloading had continued to proceed smoothly throughout the night, it had been a logistical nightmare to find sufficient space to organize and store everything. It was a task that kept much of the staff far too busy to give us a second glance.

"Excuse me."

I paused as a timid, young voice spoke up from behind me. When I turned around, the young brown-haired Sekirei saw the crest on my forehead and suddenly realized just who she had addressed. She drew back reflexively, holding out a security-blanket made from a bedsheet as if for protection. It was another sad reminder of my standing amongst the others, though I hid my sorrow behind a carefully neutral expression as I waited for her to either state her request or just run away.

Whatever she needed, it was apparently enough to overcome her apprehension. "Um," she stuttered. "D-do you know where I can find Matsu-san?" Her blanket wrapped itself protectively around her on its own, which made me rethink the security-blanket theory. "She...she said wanted to see me when I was free."

I nodded slowly; given the hour of the day, Matsu was most likely off her shift. The common room was most likely the place to find her, but it was fairly deep within the facility, a heavily trafficked area that was not a place for a nervous Sekirei to be wandering around for the first time. "I can help you look for her," I offered.

The brown-haired girl squeaked, then visibly calmed down. "Th... that would be... nice. Thank you!" She bowed deeply, and I read in her body language an unspoken 'please don't kill me!'

If Yume were here, she'd probably be laughing her head off at the young girl's behavior.

**ooo**

Fortunately, I was correct in assuming Matsu would be in the common room. Unfortunately, it seemed I had located her in the middle of an argument.

"There's no proof that Miya was correct!" Kazehana was saying. "And even if she was, not even Hiroto-kun would be the type to do _that!_"

I blinked in mild surprise as I keyed open the door; since when had the chairman become _Hiroto-kun_ to the Wind Sekirei?

Matsu had an unusually hard expression on her face as she sat in front of a computer. "The evidence, everything we've learned about _them,_ none of it contradicts anything she told us before she disappeared." She sighed and leaned back in her chair, letting me see a wire-frame diagram of some sort of crystal on her screen. "She might be right."

"Um..." the young Sekirei following me poked her head through the door behind me. "Matsu-san?"

"er... Hey!" Matsu switched gears in an instant, cutting the power to her computer's monitor. "_Juu-tan_, how is it going?"

Kazehana, realizing the argument had been successfully derailed, spun for the door and marched past us. "If I can get Hiroto-kun away from _that woman_, maybe I'll be able to get some answers from him." She rounded the doorway, her abbreviated uniform flapping in the air behind her as she stormed off.

"Good luck with that!" Matsu called after her. She spun in her chair as she waved Number Ten forward.

The brunette Sekirei clutched at her blanket as she walked forward, throwing a glance back towards me as she did so. "Um, Matsu-san, I know you only asked for me, but the Scrapped—"

"Don't worry about Sev— her," Matsu said with an apologetic glance towards me. "That said, um... can you give us some privacy? I did sort of want to talk with her alone."

I kept my gaze steady. Intellectually I knew Matsu didn't want to scare the girl with her familiarity with me, but the brush-off still struck me like a sharp jab to the chest. I simply tipped my head in a short bow and backed out of the room. "I'll return later to lead her back to the dormitories, then."

"Ah," Matsu waved me off with a weak smile. "Don't worry about that, I'll take care of that myself."

I shrugged. "If you insist." I backed out of the room, closing it behind me quietly. Then I went in search for Yume, she had received another stack of manga in the latest shipment that I had been interested in reading.

**ooo**

The next evening, nearly one month – to the day – of Miya's disappearance, Sekirei Zero-Two had also vanished from the company's research facility. The timing coincided with the end of the supply run and it wasn't too hard to imagine Matsu had stowed-away on the ship. That would have been plenty of news all by itself, but then word filtered down that a highly valuable artifact had also gone missing from a secured vault. There had been no evidence of forced entry, and the electronic security system did not appear to have been tampered with.

There really had been only one conclusion that could be drawn, and so the remainder of the Disciplinary Squad had been dispatched to the mainland in search of their wayward member. However, just like their search for the missing Zero-One, they were unsuccessful. Even worse, a few days into the search communications had been lost with Zero-Three, with Zero-Five dropping off the radar soon afterwards. When Zero-Four had been dispatched to their last-known positions, Karasuba and her team simply found the unconscious members of their escorts.

Strangely, although he had been incensed at the disappearances at the start, Minaka was in remarkable good spirits by the time Karasuba had returned to Kamikura Island. He'd simply declared everything to be 'business as usual' and the Sekirei Plan continued without any significant breaks.

Sekirei continued to be hatched, adjusted, and then released to the mainland facility. Professor Sahashi, her staff, and a large contingent of the company's private army went along with them, though the security forces dispersed themselves around the surrounding city. This left Karasuba and a handful of the remaining guards to manage the island's security and the safety of the remaining researchers, including Takehito and Minaka.

It was then – when our defenses were at their lowest – that Kamikura Island suffered a Second Invasion.

**ooo**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Aki ni Tsu no Shoujo:<strong> Port Girl in Autumn; i know, it's a horrible tie-in but it's all i could think of. . ._

_**Nana-ko:** a female name that literally means 'seven'_

_**Juu-tan:** a name that means 'ten', just with matsu's favorite honorific  
><em>


	6. Chapter 6

**Scrapped 06**

* * *

><p>The first Invasion of Kamikura Island had been a straightforward affair. From what I understood of that period, Hiroto Minaka and Takami Sahashi had been the first to discover the mysterious landmass and the Sekirei contained within. Although their research had gone quietly at first, eventually they gained the attention of various international powers.<p>

I'm not certain what overtures – if any – were made towards the fledgling organization that would become MBI, but it's very clear that negotiations broke down catastrophically. Although she was not involved at that stage, I recalled Matsu having speculated that the chairman may have given the representative a bird to bring back to his superiors. I'm not quite certain how that touched off the start of the conflict, perhaps he wasn't very fond of flying creatures.

Whatever the reason, the leaders of the international community had a very extreme response. They pooled together their military assets for a coordinated assault on the island, their goal probably to intimidate Minaka and wrest control of Kamikura from him. They were up against civilians, scientists. Even though word had spread that they were studying alien artifacts, it was far too soon for any of that advanced technology to have been reversed engineered and used against them.

So, they had made their plans for conventional warfare, but they probably not been expecting still-living aliens to come to MBI's defenses; they had most certainly not expected the Disciplinary Squad. The first wave had been utterly routed, yet the planners of the assault continued to press the attack. Maybe they believed their defeat had been a mere fluke, or they thought their overwhelming military might would eventually defeat the defenders through a battle of attrition. Whatever the reason, two more assault forces were met and repelled before the coalition finally withdrew from the battlefield.

Where overt military force had failed, industrial espionage became their new method of attack. That too had failed, as MBI quickly learned how to more effectively screen their employees and contractors. The few times a spy had succeeded in reaching the labs, they would quickly meet their end at the hands of the Disciplinary Squad itself. Beings who could wipe out whole military formations had no trouble at all against individual infiltrators. Realizing they would not be able to achieve their aims through subtle means either, the various world leaders finally adopted a more patient strategy of wait-and-see.

Their opportunity finally came with the disappearance of their biggest obstacles. Miya's desertion set off a chain of events amongst the rest of the closely-knit community, and MBI soon found itself in the position of Karasuba being their only enforcer. A new screening process to reinforce the Squad's numbers had been introduced for the remaining Sekirei still being hatched. But although there had been several hopefuls identified, they still had to go through their own adjustments and mature before they could be utilized. With Karasuba as the lone member of the Squad on Kamikura and with the remaining mature Sekirei having been transferred to the facility in Tokyo along with the bulk of their security forces, Kamikura Island's defenses were at the weakest they had been in years.

Where force and subtlety both fail, a happy medium can be found somewhere in between.

The alarms sounded in the dead of the night, at a time when the new moon darkened the sky. Most of the staff had already retired and the few night-shift personnel were just settling into their routines. Without that bit of extra light to aid the sentries, teams of commandos breached the island's perimeter and made their way into the research labs. I'm not sure who saw them – or rather, who saw them and lived to report it – first, but by the time the alert had gone out, they were well within the complex. Our outnumbered security teams had been caught off guard and overwhelmed and the intruders were already deep within the building by the time Minaka had been able to order a response.

And that response had been Sekirei Zero-Four.

By the time I had exited my room, the hallway was already a mess. Blood splashed all over the walls and pooled on the floor, corpses littered the ground in both directions. The bodies wore dark clothing and protective armor, but what protects a person from gunfire is not quite as effective against bladed weaponry. There was a series of loud gunshots and screams in the direction of the Nursery, so I headed down in that direction. Both sounds cut off abruptly, and I watched with detached interest as the wall of the cross corridor I had been approaching was painted crimson. In the relative silence, I could hear murmurs of conversation; the speaker clearly try to avoid letting the sound carry, but was apparently too angry to put much effort into it.

I wasn't terribly surprised to see Karasuba standing over her latest kill. I was, however, surprised to see just how much her uniform had been soiled in the short time since the alarm had sounded. She had a fistful of the soldier's uniform clenched in one hand, using the material to clean off her sword, mindless of the blood and other bodily fluids dripping to the ground around her. Further down the corridor, Yume stood with her hands posted on her hips. She was still wearing her sleepwear, but that in no way diminished the threatening posture she held as she glared at Karasuba.

"It's excessive!" she whispered harshly. "You could have just knocked them out and moved on!"

Finished with her sword, Karasuba simply dropped the body she was holding and moved past Yume to continue down the corridor at a brisk pace. "There's too little time to waste and your method is taking too long. My way is faster."

Yume glared at her, then turned to follow. "You're just looking for an excuse," she said.

"I don't need an excuse," the Black Sekirei replied airily. "I'm charged with protecting this facility and the researchers within. We've been attacked by unknown persons using deadly force, I'm simply responding in kind." She looked over her shoulder. "Hello, Scrap, are you going to join us?"

Yume looked up at me as if noticing me for the first time. "Seven!" she quickly beckoned me to follow as Karasuba broke into a sprint. The two of us leapt after her, easily keeping pace. "Are you alright?"

"I'm unharmed," I replied. "I woke up just a few minutes ago."

"That's good," Yume replied. "I was still awake when the alarm sounded. We're under attack, as you can see. But it's nothing so obvious as battleships and armies, they've sent in small teams of soldiers to infiltrate the building."

I chewed over that in silence. The first invasion had been an attempt to wrest control over Kamikura and the Sekirei from MBI's hands. This new invasion... "They're attempting to retrieve samples?"

Yume nodded grimly. "They've killed most of our guards, but Karasuba has a radio on her so she's been getting updates from the security center. Apparently there's at least two main groups. One's heading for the Main Labs and the server room there, probably to try to strip data off of the mainframe. The other is headed for the Nursery. That's where we're going now." She suddenly put on a burst of speed, launching herself forward faster than I or Karasuba could possibly move. "There's a group ahead!" she shouted.

The Black Sekirei was already swinging around the corner into the next room, nimbly avoiding sporadic bursts of gunfire from inside. She already had her sword out to behead the first person she approached, when suddenly a bright flash of light erupted from behind her. The half-dozen commandos making up the rear guard were knocked to the side from the sheer concussive force, and the far end of the room lit up with an explosion that drilled deep into the corridor behind it. By the time I arrived, just a few moments later, everyone inside the room aside from us had been knocked unconscious. There were a few soldiers in the far corridor that had also been bowled over, but we could see a group of them still active, running away as fast as they could.

Yume smirked at the ash-haired Sekirei and lowered her fist. "There, was that quick enough for you?"

Karasuba had an unreadable expression on her face as she stared at Yume, her eyes the widest I had ever seen them. "Perhaps... " she admitted. Then she turned and stabbed her sword into the head of one of the soldiers at her feet. "Not entirely efficient though. This one was still awake."

"No he wasn't!" Yume exclaimed, shocked at the casual execution.

"Yes he was, he twitched." Karasuba narrowed her eyes and grinned again. "We should move on," she pointed towards the corridor. "The rest of their group is still alive." She suddenly frowned as a beeping noise emerged from one of her pockets. She pulled out a small radio and thumbed a switch.

_"Karasuba!"_ a panicky voice shouted before she could respond. _"We need you in the Main Labs, right away! We're under siege here!"_

Yume and I were already in motion, but skidded to a halt as Karasuba frowned. "I'm not very far from the Nursery," she said. "Let me clean up here and I'll be over there shortly."

_"We need you __**now!**__"_ the person at the other end shouted. _"All of our guards here are dead, we've locked ourselves in, but it's just a matter of time before the doors are breached!"_

The Black Sekirei sighed, "Understood, Director." She pocketed her radio and looked up at the two of us. "You two can handle the stragglers, yes?" Without waiting for a reply she spun on her heel and jogged back the way we had come.

**ooo**

Yume and I continued after the remaining intruders, but our pace was not as fast as we would have hoped. Even after losing dozens of soldiers to Yume and Karasuba's counterattack, they still had enough to act as roadblocks which impeded our progress. They had quickly learned not to group up, or else Yume would have been able to take care of them instantly. Instead, they broke themselves down into small teams of two or three people each, staggering their positions so no single attack could catch them all within the confines of the indoor environment. If we simply ignored them and charged through, they would fall upon us from behind, which forced us to deal with them before we could catch up with the main body.

It had been quite some time since I had put any real force behind any of my elemental summons, so my control was a little bit shaky. Creating the ice crystals proved as simple as ever, but when I unleashed them on one of the ambushing groups, we found out Karasuba was not the only one who could paint the walls red. I couldn't help but stare at the remains of my unlucky target while his companions were knocked out by Yume's concussive blasts and punches. The practice targets I had used when I was still Zero-Seven had never ended up quite like _that_.

Yume must have seen something in my expression, she grabbed at my arm and pulled me along after her. "Remember, they wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing to us," she said. "But maybe you can try to just freeze them directly, just enough so they can't move."

"Ah," I fell into step with her automatically as I tried to sort myself out. I kept replaying the sight of a human body disintegrating under a withering assault of ice. Somehow, the sight triggered something in my memories, like it wasn't the first time I had witnessed such a thing. My mind flashed back to an uncomfortable-looking Matsu as she reported the aftermath of the Experiment; to Miya, standing protectively next to Takehito whenever I saw them together; to the look on the soldiers' faces as their squadmate was turned into puree...

What was Yume asking? Oh, not to kill them. "... I think I can do that."

Yume gave me a side glance as if she didn't fully believe me, but she returned her attention to the next section ahead of us and put on a burst of speed, leaving me behind by several meters. I couldn't help but be reminded of how she had done the same thing to prevent Karasuba from slaughtering the soldiers earlier, and I felt a sharp pain in my chest at the thought.

The room ahead lit up with a blinding explosion and I felt an incredible pressure rushing out as I reached the archway. Yume stood in the center of the room with her hands spread out to the sides; several soldiers were pressed against the walls, but quickly fell to the floor as I entered. There were a few sickening crunches as they landed, but the groans rising from their bodies let me know they were still alive, if barely. Yume threw another look at me as she continued on. "Leave them, they won't be coming after us any time soon."

After a few more similar encounters, we finally reached the Nursery. Many of the soldiers had taken defensive positions along the corridor, taking cover to prevent Yume from knocking them out with her energy blasts. I knew she could have punched through their cover if she had stopped holding back, but doing so would almost certainly kill the soldiers behind them, which she was apparently unwilling to do. Fortunately, I had taken her advice to heart and come up with a solution I was certain would work within her moral code. Reaching out and tapping fully into my powers, I simply condensed the moisture in the air around each of the defenders and froze them solid in large blocks of ice.

The two of us sprinted the remaining distance to the doorway, though the door itself had been locked and scrambled so our entry codes did not work. Yume simply punched a hole through the wall, shattering the locking mechanism and threw the door open.

The Nursery had been home for the juvenile Sekirei as they were hatched and gradually acclimated with their surroundings. They had intentionally been matured to the point where many of them were just growing into their powers, but not old enough that the adjustment treatments would have an adverse effect on them that their bodies could not compensate for. It made for a heart-wrenching sight as a large group of armed soldiers held a room full of crying adolescents under gunpoint. Several white-coated researchers were sitting in a cluster separate from the children, forced to remain still with their hands on top of their heads.

Our arrival turned heads from all around and we quickly made use of that distraction. Yume blurred forward, fists and feet flying in a whirling display as she used her superhuman abilities to mow through the closest guards. Guards all around suddenly found their arms bound against their sides, solidly encased in ice. A few of the researches exploded into action themselves, turning against their captors and struggling to keep them from bringing their weapons to bear.

Suddenly a single gunshot cracked out across the room, easily cutting through the sounds of battle. I looked over towards the source of the noise and saw one of the commandos standing tall with a pistol in one hand, pressed against the head of a crying, brown-haired Sekirei child he was holding in his other hand. A motionless figure wearing a white coat lay at his feet, a crimson pool growing underneath his body.

"Nobody else move," the soldier warned. "Or this one dies."

I thought he was talking about the Sekirei for a moment, which didn't make sense to me since I had assumed retrieving a live specimen had been their entire goal. Then I understood as he lowered the gun to point down at the prone figure at his feet. The man groaned and rolled onto his back, clutching at a stomach wound that was still leaking crimson. My insides grew cold as I recognized that ash-colored hair.

Takehito.

"Asama-san!" Yume shouted in dismay.

Even as that realization struck me, the soldier was barking orders into a radio strapped against his shoulder. He must have been trying to reach the remainder of his team guarding the entrance, but whatever he heard must have not been to his liking. A few more shouts of names and numbers that I didn't recognize, and the commandos in the room still capable of movement quickly flanked him as they backed towards the broken door. A pair of soldiers dragged the wounded geneticist between them, keeping him between themselves and the rest of the room, while the rest surrounded their leader who was still holding the crying child against his chest. As they reached the door, my eyes narrowed and the temperature in the room rapidly dropped.

The leader found his head incased in ice before he could even blink, but then one of the soldiers surrounding him barked out a command of his own. The retreating soldiers opened fire on the room and I was forced to divert my attention into forming a blockade of ice to protect the children and remaining scientists. Even as their leader fell, his Second in Command snatched the Sekirei child from his limp arms and broke into a sprint. The rest of the soldiers followed suit, the last pair dropping their cargo and running after them. Takehito hit the ground with a pained groan.

Yume dashed forward, a glowing fist held at the ready, when Takehito raised a hand.

"Don't," he said weakly. "You risk injury to Number Eighty-Eight." His hand fell back against his wound and he coughed up blood.

Yume grimaced, but leapt over him and continued chasing down the hallway. "Seven! Find someone to give him medical attention!" she shouted as she continued her pursuit.

I stepped towards Takehito, but one of the other scientists had reached him first. "This is bad," he said. "I can't believe you're still alive, but this looks _really_ bad... "

I felt a hand grabbing on to my arm, holding me back. "Don't touch him!" another scientist was shouting. "You're the Scrapped Number, who knows what you'll do to him!" He flinched and released me as I turned my attention towards him. Even as I continued towards Takehito, I could hear the whispers from behind me.

"That's the Scrapped Number?"

"Yeah, she's the one who destroyed the lab."

"My god, look at all those bodies outside."

Apparently my idea to freeze the defenders outside had been a bit more fatal than I had thought it would be.

"She's just like Zero-Four, killing everything in her way."

That stung.

"No, she's worse. Zero-Four at least can be cordial. Look at her face, I don't even think she even feels _anything._"

"What about the other one? Wasn't that Zero-Eight?"

"She's one too, but she seemed normal... "

If the words of the scientists were painful jabs, the whimpers from the children and their fearful stares cut deeply into my chest. I knelt down by Takehito's side. The man attending him, apparently having already given him up for dead, quickly made his escape.

Takehito's face was scrunched up with pain, but he somehow managed a grim smile. "This... this is where I say some sort of heartfelt final speech," he said slowly. "But really, all I can think of is how I didn't get to finish building my house.." He coughed again, but it was nowhere near as strongly as even a few minutes ago. I noticed the flow of blood from his side had slowed to a trickle and his face had paled considerably. "Seven, my front pocket. Piece of paper. Take it."

I frowned, but carefully reached out and retrieved the small sheet. Flipping it around in my hand, I saw several lines of text in bad handwriting, most of them with lines crossing them out.

The scientists had returned, clustering around Takehito with several first-aid kits in hand. They wrestled him out of his labcoat so they could get to his wounds and bare his arms. They shoved me out of the way as they tried to apply bandages, stab him with painkillers. It was a futile effort and everyone knew it, but they had to try _something_. I moved around to be out of their way, reading the various notes on the sheet.

Port Girl. _Tsu no shoujo_

Port Child. _Tsu ko_. This line had been crossed out repeatedly.

Winter Child. _Fuyu ko_

Winter Beauty. _Fuyu mi_

Autumn Child. _Aki ko_

Autumn Beauty. _Ake mi_

There, in the middle of the rest of the scribbles, a single note had been left unmarked. In fact, there was a circle around the two characters. One for _autumn_, one for _port_. I looked up from the note to find Takehito with that same weak smile on his face.

"I... think it suits you," he said. "Even if you're ice, winter doesn't fit. You're not nearly as cold as others would like to believe."

I stared at him for long moments, then looked back down at the paper. There was an odd pressure in my chest as I sat there, mouthing the two characters silently. "Asama-san... why?" Why did he do this? Why did he release Yume and I from our shackles? Why did he try to fight back against heavily armed men with just his body?

Why did he have to die?

"Because it's the right thing to do... " He coughed again, a little bit less blood flying out, a little less breath being inhaled as he gasped. "Akitsu," he whispered.

I leaned forward as the scientists leaned away from him, shaking their heads in sorrow.

"Please... tell Miya that I love her."

The pressure that had been building in my chest suddenly collapsed into a gaping void. I knew it was unreasonable for me to think so, but I felt inexplicably betrayed. I had always known that Takehito had been devoted to Miya. He had always treated her differently from the rest of us and he was faithful to her memory even after she had vanished.

Yet... he had been the only member of the staff to not treat me as if I was going to explode into violence. It was all the more remarkable considering he had been one of my original victims during the failed adjustment procedure. It had touched me on a level I had not even been consciously aware of; even now, in his final moments, I had assumed he was doing something great for me. Only me. But his last thoughts were for Miya, his true love. Of course, I was simply a puzzle he had been working with on the side.

I had allowed myself to feel some hope, that there was someone else out there who cared for me, that there was someone out there who could love me. But it seems that was just an illusion, a misunderstanding. After all, I wasn't capable of being loved, I wasn't capable of being cared for. After all, I'm an Experimental Failure.

I'm Broken.

I'm Scrap.


	7. Chapter 7

"Seven?"

I ignored the tapping at my door. Rather, it was more accurate to say I simply did not process the noise at the time. I had confined myself to my room for over a day now. I wasn't locked in – I was no more a prisoner now than I had been before – I just saw no reason to go out into the world and pretend my daily activities had any meaning.

The door chimed as it accepted an entry code and Yume stepped into the room. Her eyes blinked as she adjusted to the dim lighting, then she turned and flicked a finger against the panel set against the wall. As the room brightened she turned her head back towards me and made a sound of disapproval. "Seven, what are you doing?"

I was huddled on the small cot that served as my bed; one arm was wrapped around my legs to hug them against my chest. I was turned towards the wall next to the door, though my gaze was unfocused, I stared at everything and nothing at the same time. In my other hand, I clutched the bloodied remains of Takehito's lab coat. It wasn't a sentimental gesture. When they had carted the scientist's body away they had left his jacket on the floor. Since my own outfit was in shambles from the recent battle, I had merely retrieved the garment for my own use. Also, it had an intact pocket I could store the scrap of paper he had given me.

Yume looked slightly put out by my continued silence. "Seven?" She waved a grey and black-clad arm to try to get my attention. "Oi~"

I had not let Yume see the contents of the paper. I had not let anybody see it. If I had, they might have started to call me by the words written on it. They would attach it to me as if it were mine to use. But I was a Scrap, I had no need for a name. So I held tightly on to the lab coat and its precious cargo. To protect it. From everybody else.

There was nothing sentimental in the action.

"Well, if you wont talk to me then I'll just talk to you," Yume decided. She posted her hands on her hips. "I know you're upset at Asama-san's death, and to be honest: so am I. But we don't see me moping around like this." She threw a hand to the side, letting the sleeves of her abbreviated kimono flare out. "We can still do things. They've asked me to join the Disciplinary Squad; me and Karasuba are gonna go and rescue Number Eighty-Eight. You and I might be Scrapped, but that doesn't mean we can't help our brothers and sisters find their wings. They would have asked you too, if you'd only _get out of the room!"_

I listened to her, but I ignored her. What was the point? Yume might have been a Scrap like me, but she was still different. People didn't fear her, people actually called her by name. I knew she was still useful. But me... "I can't," I said quietly. "I'm a failure."

"Argh..." she ran her hand over her head. "You don't have to be a failure!" She used that same hand and stabbed a finger towards me. "If you do something, that means you tried! If you don't even try, _then_ you'll be a failure. Get up, Seven!" She reached out to pull me off of my bed, but I jerked out of her reach.

I finally turned to face her directly, and she flinched backwards at the haunted expression on my face. "I was unable to do anything for Asama-san," I replied. "Even though you trusted me to do so, I couldn't do anything for him at all." I watched as her eyes flickered over to the coat in my hands, then back to me.

"Seven... " Her expression softened and she slowly lowered her arm. "There was nothing you could have done... "

"Because I'm a failure."

"No! Not because— Argh..." Yume scratched at her head again, then held up a clenched fist. "If I had the time to spare I'd come over there and knock some sense into you, but I don't." She spun around and headed for the doorway, only to stop and rest a hand against the frame. "I have to go now, but you and I are going to have words when I get back. Okay?"

I didn't respond, instead I slowly turned my head back to stare at the wall. Awkward silence filled the air for several heartbeats, then with a flap of her cloak, Yume was gone. As the door slid shut, I threw an icicle at the light panel. The projectile hit the wall harder than I had meant it to. The panel exploded into a shower of sparks, but the lights snapped out of existence. I glanced down at my hands, but the room dropping back into darkness meant I didn't have to see them shaking.

**ooo**

* * *

><p>.<strong><br>**

**Scrapped 07**

.**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Bright.<p>

Yet _again_ I woke to bright lights blinding me from the ceiling. At first I thought member of the maintenance staff had repaired the damaged panel, except for two things. The first was that I knew I would have noticed the instant that anyone walked through the door to my room. The second was the presence of Karasuba standing beside my bed. Her uniform rustled as she became aware of my attention on her and she stared down at me with an unrecognizable expression.

"Good morning, Scrap. You're in the infirmary," she said to my unstated question. I suppose I'd have to rethink the likelihood of my first excuse. A brief grin slashed across her face before it settled down once more. "The next time you decide to hide in your room for several days on end, you might want to bring in some food with you."

"Ah," I said. My memories were a bit hazy, I assumed that was what happened when I allowed my body to lapse from malnourishment. The last thing I remembered was hearing that she and Yume had been tasked with... "You're back," I noted. In spite of myself, I glanced around curiously. "Then... Yume?"

Karasuba's expression darkened and I involuntarily shrunk back before her glare. "She's gone," the Black Sekirei hissed. "The humans who spirited Eighty-Eight away tried to run their own experiments on the little one and tampered with her enough that her core was damaged. She was already almost dead by the time we found her."

So even Yume had a limit to her own grief. I felt a stab of sympathy for what my fellow Scrapped Number must have been going through. I turned my eyes away from Karasuba's piercing glare. "That does sound unfortunate, to lose one so young."

The Black Sekirei snorted. "Who said anything about the little one? I'm pissed because Yume decided to sacrifice her own core to heal the little brat."

My eyes widened. Wait, so when Karasuba had said _gone_... "Her... core?" I asked.

"Core, _tama_, whatever. Yume is gone. Deactivated. _Dead._" Karasuba leaned against a nearby table and crossed her arms. "She was saying she wanted Eighty-Eight to carry on her wish and find an Ashikabi, since she couldn't. Such a waste, that girl. She showed such promise."

She leaned forward and leered at me. "That's why I'm here, actually. I know what they say about you Scrapped Numbers, how you're 'unsuitable' for the chairman's plan. But I was much more interested to hear how you're rampaging death machines. I had no doubt about Yume; she was strong, even if she had that silly belief in keeping our opponents alive. I find myself wondering if she'd be stronger than me if she weren't holding back." She casually unsheathed her blade and inspected the edge. "It would have been something I would have liked to test... directly."

With a quick flick of her wrist the she had her sword leveled at my throat. "What about you, little Scrap? I never really paid much attention to you in the past. Are you stronger than Yume?"

I forced myself not to react and simply stared at the blade with a detached expression. "Does it really matter? I'm broken." I didn't even flinch as she flicked her blade even closer to me. She held it there for several seconds, then finally withdrew it and sheathed it.

"What a pity," she grumbled. "I've been wondering since I heard you nearly let yourself starve to death, but are you really suicidal?" She leaned down so she could stare at my face. "You have no life in your eyes," she complained.

I shrugged noncommittally.

"Tch." Karasuba leaned back. "If I can't even use you to replace her, then what good are you to me?"

**ooo**

They let me go later that day, but I had nowhere else to go. With the state of mind I was in I knew I would probably forget to take care of myself again, but I didn't feel like wandering the common areas the way I had used to. Even though I had not interacted that much with the Yume or the others, I now found myself missing their company. Most of the scientists were nervous around me, most likely from stories of my my failed experiment, or from rumors of my actions during the Second Invasion. Though they had brought Takami back from the mainland facility to oversee Eighty-Eight's recovery, she had avoided me almost as much as I avoided the others.

With nothing better to do, I withdrew back into my room. To my dismay, I found that everything had been cleaned up in my absence. The wall panel had been replaced, the bed neatly made, and Takehito's lab coat was gone. I suppose it was for the best, anyhow. It wasn't like I had been holding on to it for sentimental reasons.

When I woke up the next morning I found I must have unconsciously activated my powers sometime during the night. My obvious lack of control was further proof that I was a failure. Nothing else could explain the dampness of my pillow.

**ooo**

Days passed. Weeks passed. Out of curiosity I accessed one of the common room's terminals. The new devices were nearly half the size as when I first woke up in the facility. MBI had clearly been putting their discoveries to practical use in the last few years. As I browsed through the various computer screens, I noticed a basic listing of all the Sekirei in the plan. Numbers Zero-One through Zero-Five, with the exception of Karasuba, had all been listed as missing, but still active. Yume appeared to have posthumously regained her own number of Zero-Eight, though the entry for Zero-Seven was still conspicuously missing.

Many of the younger Sekirei had been fully matured and released by this point, and a few even had new tags for their status. Homura, Tsukiumi, and Number Ten, 'Uzume,' had been released several weeks back, and were all listed as 'Alive'. Number Fifteen, 'Himeko,' was listed as 'Alive/Winged'. After quickly reviewing the list, I saw that Sekirei had been released into the high twenties, with the remainder tagged as 'Adjusting'.

An authoritative voice spoke up from behind me. "Excuse me, what do you think you're doi—_AH!"_

I turned around to see one of the researchers huddling fearfully with his back against the wall. Turning back around, I reset the computer back to the screen I had first started at and wordlessly exited the room.

**ooo**

I no longer kept track of the days, I judged the passage of time by how many Sekirei had been released. I never knew quite how they managed it, but considering I had been a mere embryo myself during the First Invasion, I assumed MBI had some sort of accelerated maturing they put the juveniles through once they had finished with their adjustments. I did not know how long it took for each individual Sekirei's training, adjustment, or maturing process, but it seemed there were roughly five or six Sekirei being released each month.

One day, when the count was up to Number Ninety, they ordered me to report to one of the auxiliary labs. There I found a man who had once been Takehito's assistant standing next to a beaming Minaka. I couldn't help but feel a twinge as I noticed the chairman's presence. The last time I had heard from him was when he was ordering Karasuba to support him during the Second Invasion. His reasoning had seemed sound at the time, but I had learned after the fact that he'd overstated the danger he was in and had simply panicked. Though I couldn't really blame him, I often wondered what might have happened if Karasuba had not been called away and been present when we had retaken the Nursery from the intruders. Maybe Number Eighty-Eight would not have been kidnapped. Maybe Yume would not have sacrificed herself to bring her back.

Maybe Takehito would still be alive.

Minaka's perpetually messy hair was now completely white, possibly from stress. It seemed to complete the look of a stereotypical mad scientist in his younger years. Now all he had to was lose most of it to baldness and grow a bushy moustache, then the image would be complete. As I stepped through the door, he beckoned me forward with one hand. "Ah, Akitsu, so good to see you still up and about."

I stared at him, nonplussed. I suppose I should have expected it once I had realized Takehito's coat and the slip of paper inside had gone missing. I had assumed a cleaning crew had simply been offended by the blood and burned the garment, but in retrospect it made much more sense that Minaka would want to know about anything his top scientist had been involved in. Still, even if I approved of the name he had chosen, it didn't change the fact that names were for useful beings.

"Chairman," I returned politely. "Did you have a... use for me?" Please say yes. Please give my life some sort of meaning.

"Indeed!" he exclaimed. "We're getting some preliminary data on our little birdies, and we've been discovering some interesting things. I'm sure you know, when a Sekirei gains an Ashikabi, they receive a crest on their backs."

I bit back my initial reaction. Yes, of course I knew. I only had to look into a mirror to see my own and remember how my crest was broken. I carefully kept a neutral expression over my face and said nothing.

Not that it would have mattered to the enthusiastic chairman. "Well we're also learning from a few of them that they might have the ability to boost their own powers by reciting a short poem!," he continued, heedless of my lack of response. "It allow them to boost their abilities and gives them access to even more impressive attacks. Basically we're going to test that with you!" He leaned towards me, clasping and rubbing his hands together. "So, tell me Akitsu, what's your _norito?_"

I blinked. Although I recognized the word from somewhere, nothing else came to me. "Where would I receive one?"

That seemed to set him aback. "Um, you just... know it, I guess? Something about your Ashikabi, then you promise something. Does that ring any bells?"

"Ah." I searched through my memories, but no words magically appeared in my head. Perhaps it was a genetic memory, just like the words _Ashikabi_ and _norito_ had been. "I do not know," I told him apologetically. "Perhaps I do not know it because I do not have an Ashikabi."

Minaka grimaced. "Bah. You mean I have to go and find a Sekirei already Winged before we can find out anything?" He waved his hands irritably and stalked past me for the door. "What good are you then? Useless thing..."

Useless.

He turned around and held the door open as he called towards the newly promoted researcher and his staff. "Prep the Scrapped Number for the other tests. Maybe she'll be of use in testing for crests' secondary function."

Useful?

I turned back towards the researchers. They looked slightly nervous as they motioned me towards one of the lab beds. I complied without hesitation, still mulling over the chairman's words in my head. Even though I couldn't help with the norito problem, there was still something else I could do for him. My mood lifted again, only slightly dulled by the fact that I was finding myself strapped down to the table. Still, I could understand the precaution after all. The last time I had been on one of these tables, it had not ended well.

"What is this other function Minaka-san was talking about?" I asked the closest person.

The researcher grimaced slightly as he began attaching various sensors to my body. "Well, um. We've had some other reports regarding Sekirei and their crests which also involves a norito."

The good feeling that had been building up diminished somewhat. "But... I do not posses a norito."

"True," the researcher said. "But it has to do with the Sekirei on the receiving end. We've heard that if a Sekirei recites their norito while touching another Sekirei's crest, there is an unusual reaction that occurs."

I was curious now. "What is the nature of this reaction?"

He appeared to be sweating now, I found it most curious. "It's not important," he said quickly.

Now I was beginning to find it mildly alarming. I frowned. "What is the nature of this reaction?" I repeated.

"Stop talking to the Scrapped Number," another research assistant spoke up. "She's just going to end up terminated anyhow."

Happy feeling gone. "... What?"

**ooo**

Night had fallen by the time I stepped out of the facility. I moved swiftly, heedless of my current state of dress.

Or lack of it. Most of my clothing had been removed to facilitate the application of the sensors the researchers were planning on using to monitor my vital signs. A means to record my body's failure as they poked and prodded at the crest on my forehead to see if they could duplicate the terminated state.

The first thing I had done once I had broken free was to appropriate some new clothing. Unfortunately it would have taken too long to remove their pants, with their various belts and suspenders. So I had simply torn the shirt off one man's back and retrieved another's lab coat after he had run away. I had mixed feelings about taking that one. On one hand, it reminded me of slightly of Takehito's, which inexplicably made me feel calmer. On the other hand, it was a reminder that the researchers had every right to be afraid of me.

There were no convenient explanations. I had simply panicked at the thought of termination. And my response to that panic had been an explosion of ice that had inflicted grievous bodily harm on each and every person within several meters of me as I had quickly reduced the lab equipment around me to scrap. But again, the sight of blood on my borrowed coat had a strangely calming effect over me.

Now free of the adrenaline rush which had carried me out here, I felt a new wave of despair crashing over me. I was a Scrapped Number. I was a broken Sekirei who could never have an Ashikabi. I could never have a norito – whatever that was. I was an experimental failure and useless for MBI's purposes. Now my home was lost to me, MBI clearly wanted me dead. Now I had nowhere else to go.

Out of sheer habit, my feet carried me along a familiar path until I was at the harbor. For the first time in nearly a year, I was able to stare out across the sea from the safety of the port. But for once, I did not find that sight as welcoming as I normally did; instead that feeling was triggered by the presence of the massive cargo ship that had been docked there. It was night, and though I might have been a failure as a Sekirei I was still more than capable of sneaking on board and stowing away until I reached the mainland. What I would do once I got there, I didn't know. But I was certain that remaining here was not an option.

The crunch of gravel alerted me to a presence behind me, but in spite of that I remained relaxed. Only one person would be coming after me at this point, and if she had wanted me dead then she wouldn't have given me that warning otherwise.

"You know," Karasuba said lightly. "I don't know about this whole 'Love' thing that Yume was talking about. I don't see the point in those 'Ashikabi' that the scientists were all so excited over. However, the idea that a Sekirei gets stronger around their Ashikabi is one that does interest me."

I turned around to see the Black Sekirei standing casually several meters away from me. Her hand and sword were held loosely against her side, but I had no doubt she could close the distance in a heartbeat. Her eyes were fully open now, and she was staring at me the way a cat eyes a mouse. Her bloodlust was palpable, but she was keeping herself in check for some reason. I knew I had no chance against her, and now that the realization of what I had just done fully hit me, I wasn't sure I still wanted to live.

"What is it that you want?" I asked softly. I stared at her evenly, preparing myself for the attack that would end my life.

She frowned. "Ah, that's no good," she complained. "You had a much better expression on your face when you were fighting your way out of the complex. I mean," she shrugged, "sure it was only against the security guards, but you were pretty impressive then." She tilted her head as she stared at my impassive expression, then sighed and sheathed her sword.

"Now you've got that dead look in your eyes again," she said. "Killing you now would be no fun. I'd rather do it when you're actually fighting for your life." The radio in her pocket squawked, but she tapped a button and silenced it instantly. "The supply vessel should be finished unloading with the hour," she continued, jerking a thumb to the side. "You might want to get moving."

That stopped me in my tracks. I was horribly confused. Why was she letting me live? I was certain she had orders to hunt me down and kill me on sight, or something like that. Some of my confusion must have leaked into my expression, since she crossed her arms and sighed again.

"I'm not letting you go," she clarified. "I'm merely delaying your execution. Go on, find something to live for. Even if you don't manage to get yourself an Ashikabi, find something you care about. That way," her expression brightened, "when I _do_ come for you, I hope you'll fight me with everything you have." Her hand twitched and she placed it on her sword's grip. "But don't think I'll wait until you and I are the only ones left in this Game that the chairman's putting together. That is reserved for somebody else."

The thumb on her other hand pressed forward, freeing her blade from the scabbard slightly. "You'd better get going before I change my mind," she said quietly.

I went.

**ooo**

Stowing away on the ship had been just as easy as I had thought it would be. I had found an area where the returning containers had not been stacked precisely, which left a small area for me to squeeze into and hide from random patrols. Once there I had passed out, sleeping through the entire trip back to the mainland and most of the unloading process. By the time I emerged from my hiding spot and made it back off the ship, it was nearly midday.

The Shin-Tokyo harbor seemed much the same as the port back on Kamikura Island, only much bigger. The buildings were more numerous and closer together, the trucks that were brought in could drag along entire containers, rather than having to unload portions of the cargo onto flatbeds. There were a great deal more people around, though they were not as efficient in such numbers as what I had been used to seeing.

Looking out from my perch on top of a traffic tower, instead of the flowing hills and trees that hid a single large complex, there was nothing to see but buildings. So this was a city. I had to explore it. A city had people, and if there was even a remote chance that I could still receive my Wings, then I knew I had to search it.

Having made my decision, I leapt for the sky.

**ooo**

* * *

><p><strong>Scrapped<strong>

**—End—**

* * *

><p>.<p>

.

.

.

.

* * *

><p><em>Epilogue<em>

I was discouraged.

Intellectually I knew it had only been half a day's worth of searching, but I was already feeling pessimistic about my chances. I had spent several hours leaping across the boundaries of the city, hoping to get even a slight impression, the slightest feeling of fulfillment from a Reaction. I had also been forced to detour around several highly populated spots. Ninety Sekirei had already been released into the city, many of them with their own Ashikabi. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so whenever I detected their presence, I immediately backtracked the way I had come.

I had been looking for individual people to test my Reaction against, but every time I thought I'd found a likely candidate, they had simply laughed at me and walked away, or leered suggestively at my abbreviated clothing and forced me to freeze them in place and withdraw. I began to despair of ever finding someone who could be my Ashikabi.

By the end of the day I was completely exhausted. I found myself in a dimly lit park and collapsed onto a small stone barrier along the walkway. I didn't even have the strength to seek out one of the more comfortable looking benches that lined the path. I found myself second-guessing myself. Sure, I was alive. But so what? I was one individual in a city of thousands. There were over one-hundred individuals who might be actively hunting me down, all in the name of the Sekirei Plan. Almost all of them would have an advantage I could never have.

The thought of it almost made me wish I had let the researchers terminate me. I almost wished that I had provoked Karasuba into killing me.

"Hey, excuse me Miss." I didn't even have the strength – or the willpower – to raise my head. Whoever it was sounded male, though much younger than the researchers had been. "It's dangerous for a young lady like you to be out here alone in a place like this. You should head back home before it gets too dark."

My head dropped. Yet another reason for me to have wished I had stayed on the island. "I can't," I said softly.

I sensed the young man leaning in closer, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I have nowhere to go right now," I explained. "And I never will, I'm broken." I almost let out a bitter laugh. Here I was, so desperate for _something _to happen that I was explaining myself out loud to a complete stranger. "I'm a failure..."

I heard a sigh and the scraping of shoes against the pavement. I strained my ears, expecting to hear the young man turn and walk away, like many others had done already. Instead he dropped into a crouch in front of me, lowering his head into a position where he could stare into my face.

"Get up," he said firmly. "I'm not sure what your situation is, but there's no way in hell I'd leave a person like you out here on your own."

Wait, what? I tilted my head as I stared at this sudden benefactor. I still felt no Reaction from his proximity, so I'm certain he felt nothing from me. Yet, he was still offering to support me? As we continued staring at each other impatiently I suddenly remembered his command and unsteadily rose to my feet. My legs were slightly unsteady with fatigue, and he automatically reached an arm around me to steady myself against him.

I felt my cheeks grow warm at the contact and stared at him with uncertain eyes. Nobody had ever embraced me this way, and despite the fact that I felt no metaphysical link to this man, something deep within me seemed to respond to the contact. Even as I stared at him, he ordered me to put on the lab coat properly, nevermind that I had nothing to worry about from the cold. My ice was far colder than the air and I'd never had a problem even with that.

"What's your name?" he asked as I shrugged my arms through the sleeves.

"Ah?" I struggled on how to answer him. I was Scrap, I was broken, I was a failure, I shouldn't have an identity. Yet, something told me this person didn't care about any of that. And if none of that mattered to him, could he... accept me? Even if I could not bear his mark, could I be useful to him? Could he become my Ashikabi, my Master, even if it was in name only?

I came to a decision. I had nowhere else to go, nothing to lose.

"I am... " I hesitated briefly. This would be the first time I had acknowledged the name I had been given as my own. " ...Akitsu."

The young man gave me a warm smile. "Don't worry, Akitsu," he reassured me. And for the first time since That Day, I felt a small stirring of hope blossom in my chest.

"I'll take care of you."

...

* * *

><p><em>(an) – yes i'm ending it here. it might feel a little bit rushed, or the chapter might have felt too long and it could have been split, but i really wanted it to end on Chapter** 7** (you see what i did there? har har har)  
><em>

_i was asked if i would be continuing this into sekirei canon or even into gabriel blessing's In Flight story, but i wanted to keep it open. i did base the last scene's dialogue on both IF and the sekirei manga, hopefully to blur the line somewhat. by doing this i hope people on both sides of the fanbase will still be able to enjoy it._

_that said, it's really no secret just how heavily i did base what i could on In Flight. things like yume being a scrapped number and a lot of my interpretation of how GB wrote akitsu into his own story. if you haven't read it, i recommend you check it out, although it is a crossover between sekirei and fate/stay night. if you don't know FSN, dont worry. GB explains the background. if you DO know your FSN/type-moon lore, bad news, GB explains it a LOT._

_some challenges with trying to balance it between canon and IF: akitsu does not receive a whole lot of characterization in the sekirei manga beyond a few things. she can fight homura to a standstill (and he/she doesn't like her very much), she runs away from karasuba when she's given the opportunity, and she sometimes forgets to put on panties. (wait what?)_

_another thing i wasn't sure how well i handled was takehito's death. canon states that miya believes herself partially responsible for his death, and seo says minaka 'was involved' or at least 'did nothing to prevent it'. dissolution of the Disciplinary Squad and the Second Invasion was my answer to both of those._

_i did have a few other ideas in mind: thing like minaka hauling takehito in front of him as a human shield, to having used musubi as bait to draw out the remnants of the people harassing MBI so he could have karasuba tail them back to their base. eventually i settled on this because it was a bit more subtle. i dislike minaka, but having him do something so stupid seemed out of character even for him. _  
><em>let me know what you thought of that plot point.<em>

_finally, i think my main problem was my decision to write it in the first person. as i said, i do consider myself a fan of GB's work, and the other stories i've done have bounced back and forth between 1stPPOV and 3rdPPOV, with the majority of the stories as 3rd person. i wanted to try to get into akitsu's head, see what is behind her stilted replies and long pauses._

_that was probably a mistake._

_3rd person akitsu is fun to read because you don't quite know what's in her head. is she a cloud-cuckoolander or is she something else? i cannot put my head around the former, which is why it's so fun, but it doesn't translate well into writing. i more or less had to switch gears and drop any semblance i had of a CCL and go more into overthinking stream-of-conscious. the end result may be an akitsu we're not used to, being far too wordy, but it was the best i could do. let me know what you think of that too._

**Anyhow, thank you for reading this to the end. I hope you enjoyed it. If you'd like to, please review. I like reading them, especially good ones, but I also don't mind reading critiques about my pacing or word choice.**

_just don't put anything that simply goes 'ahh GB sux and you suck for trying to copy him -RAAAGE'_


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